New guidance on approval applications for new higher-risk buildings

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published a suite of guidance on Building Control Approval Applications for a new Higher-Risk Building (Gateway 2).

This guidance has been produced in collaboration between the CLC, industry stakeholders and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

It provides the baseline principles to guide those involved in submitting and assessing applications for Building Control Approval for Higher-Risk Buildings and includes practical recommendations on the approach and submission of relevant information.

An application for Building Control Approval should provide quality, detailed information that clearly and comprehensively demonstrates how the design and construction of the Higher-Risk Building will comply with the Building Regulations 2010.

The guidance suite is summarised in one document and covers:

• Guidance Note 01 – The Building Safety Regime for a new Higher-Risk Building
• Guidance Note 02 – Sufficient Level of Design
• Guidance Note 03 – Approval with Requirements
• Guidance Note 04 – Application Information Schedule
• Guidance Note 05 – Application Project Brief
• Guidance Note 06 – Application Document Management and Submission
• Guidance Note 07 – Application Strategy

The CLC and BSR regularly engage to address the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations, industry culture and performance challenges.

Government, the Regulator and industry are committed to deliver buildings and facilities that are safe for those who live and work in them. In Spring 2025, CLC established a joint BSR and industry Task and Finish Group to review the project journey through the building control process to improve the quality and achieve greater consistency of the industry submissions and speed up the responses from the Regulator.

This guidance forms one of the group’s key deliverables and proactive work will continue to address priority areas and maximise communication to the industry, providing confidence to investors and developers that the system is working and the backlog of applications is reducing.

Karl Whiteman, Berkeley Group Divisional Chairman and Industry Sponsor for the CLC’s Building Safety Workstream, said: “The CLC has worked closely with the BSR and a broad range of leading technical experts from across the sector to develop robust and practical guidance for Gateway 2 applications. This will help to improve the quality of submissions, ensure the regulator can approve them swiftly and consistently, and enable the sector to increase the delivery of safe and high-quality homes.

“On behalf of the CLC I want to thank the many expert contributors to these guidance notes, including members of Local Authority Building Control, Construction Industry Council, Build UK, the G15 (a membership group of London’s leading housing associations), Construction Products Association, Royal Institute of British Architects, Architectural Technical Leads Group and the Home Builders Federation.”

Tim Galloway, Deputy Director, Health and Safety Executive, said: “We’ve supported construction industry leaders to write guidance, that speaks industry’s language, to help improve the quality of the applications that are being submitted.

“The guidance will help applicants demonstrate to themselves and BSR that their designs and plans will result in the safe, quality homes we all want.

“Applications that clearly demonstrate compliance are approved faster, and everyone in BSR wants those designs and plans off the page and onto site as quickly as possible.”