Building Safety Act Annual Review 2026
CMS is delighted to present this, the second edition of the Building Safety Act Review. While the first edition examined the initial impact of the Building Safety Act 2022 (‘BSA’) following its enactment in April 2022, one year on, this edition examines key developments over the past twelve months and reflects on whether the BSA's original aims – to ‘strengthen safety standards throughout the lifecycle of a project’ and to ‘seek to expedite the resolution of liability issues’– are being achieved in practice.
We draw on CMS's cross-firm expertise, including multiple tier 1-ranked practice areas and insights developed from handling thousands of BSA-related matters, to provide our clients with clear analysis of the ongoing challenges facing all sectors affected by the BSA.
Four years after enactment, most of our clients have developed a good understanding of the fundamental changes brought about by the BSA. However, the impact of the BSA continues to grow. Therefore, while this edition develops upon last year's themes, it also reflects the expanding reach across sectors and includes two new sections: (1) construction products and (2) corporate transactions.
The courts have considered many of the key provisions, making decisions which reshape the risk landscape for developers, investors and landlords.
We unpack the key decisions, including the Supreme Court's decision in URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025] UKSC 21, which provides welcome clarity on how developers can use the BSA and the Defective Premises Act 1972 (‘DPA’) to pursue their supply chain, years after disposing of their interests in the property. We look at the courts’ willingness to exercise their powers to grant Building Liability Orders and Remediation Contribution Orders.
On the regulatory front, the Building Safety Regulator ('BSR'), established under the BSA, has faced significant scrutiny over the past year, with widespread reports of substantial delays in the gateway approval process. Between October 2023 and March 2025, the average time to obtain Gateway 2 approval was nine months – three times the planned 12-week statutory timeframe. In December 2025, a government inquiry into the operation and effectiveness of the building safety regulatory framework concluded that delays caused by the BSR were unacceptable and risked causing the government to miss its target of building 1.5 million homes by 2029. Following subsequent reforms, by February 2026 the waiting time for Gateway 2 approval for new schemes had reduced to approximately 13 weeks. Time will tell whether it can perform the same turnaround on Gateway 2 approvals for remedial schemes and Gateway 3 approvals.
The new construction products section of the BSA Review examines the Government's ambitious proposals for system-wide reform of the construction products regulatory regime. Key developments include the publication of the Construction Products Reform White Paper in February 2026, which proposes extending regulatory coverage to all construction products.
Despite heavy criticism of cladding and construction product manufacturers during the Grenfell inquiry, corresponding court action has been limited to date, though this looks set to change.
In corporate transactions, we examine why it is essential for those involved with real estate assets to grapple with the implications of the BSA when considering the risk profile of the transaction. Aside from the usual due diligence, parties must now consider how Building Liability Orders and Remediation Contribution Orders may extend liability beyond the original developer to wider corporate groups, with the concept of ‘association’ capturing parent companies, subsidiaries, former group companies, and acquirers.
