Building Safety Regulator “performing poorly”

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is performing poorly, with an inability to meet timescales due to a lack of qualified personnel, according to an evidence panel session conducted as part of an inquiry into the remediation of dangerous cladding.

According to the first of a two-part evidence panel of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee’s probe, the BSR has caused problems for designers and developers attempting to deliver or remediate tall residential buildings of 18 metres or more for new build schemes, and 11 metres or more for existing developments.

The BSR was created under the Building Safety Act 2022 to regulate the design and construction of higher risk buildings.

Giving evidence on the first panel on February 3, David O’Leary, executive director of the Home Builders Federation, said it was “really frustrating” that the BSR, legislated for three years ago, was “ill-equipped when it was set up” and even after beginning last year “does not seem to have improved since”.

O’Leary commented that “we could foresee all of the challenges that were coming”.

He said he had heard from government that it expected the BSR to improve. However, “we would have hoped that the