The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published two new guidance notes on the Fire and Emergency File and the Building Regulations Compliance Statement for Building Control approval applications for new Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs).
Both new guidance notes provide key information on the preparation, content and management of the key accompanying documents for a HRB Building Control Approval (Gateway 2) application and subsequent approved documents for a HRB Completion Certificate (Gateway 3) applications.
The guidance notes are supported by an example of the structure and content of a Fire and Emergency File (FEF) and a sample extract of a Building Regulations Compliance Statement (BRCS).
Feedback from the BSR confirms that the quality of both the FEF and BRCS, whilst improving, is a cause of rejections of some applications. It is key that these documents clearly narrate the design and technical approach taken by applicants and fully evidence their assessment of risk, especially in relation to fire and structure.
This guidance builds on the CLC guidance suite updated on 18 December 2025, to support those submitting and assessing Building Control applications for a new HRB.
Read the new and updated CLC guidance here.
A Higher-Risk Building (HRB) has at least 7 storeys or is at least 18 metres high and contains 2 or more residential units, or is a hospital or care home. Guidance on the criteria for being a HRB can be found here.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) became the Building Control Authority for HRB’s in England on 1 October 2023.
Building Control Approval is a statutory requirement for building work on HRBs, as set out in The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023. These regulations, along with The Building Safety Act 2022, The Building Act 1984 and The Building Regulations 2010, establish a framework for building control in HRBs.
