Building Safety Act and the Building Safety Levy: a guide for builders and developers

The Building Safety Act in brief

The Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022, following the Grenfell Tower fire. It created the Building Safety Regulator and a new system of duties for everyone involved in design and construction.

The duty holder regime

For building work in England that needs building regulations approval, there are now formal duty holders: the client, the principal designer, the principal contractor, and every designer and contractor. Each must have the right skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for their role, and must plan, manage and monitor the work so it complies with building regulations. These duties sit alongside, not instead of, the CDM Regulations 2015.

For a small builder, this means you can be the principal contractor on a domestic extension and carry legal duties for compliance. Clients increasingly ask for evidence of competence before appointing you.

Higher-risk buildings

Buildings of at least 18 metres or seven storeys with at least two residential units are higher-risk buildings. Work on them goes through Building Safety Regulator gateways and needs a “golden thread” of accurate building information kept for the life of the building. From 30 September 2026, new residential buildings over 18 metres also need a second staircase.

Wales has its own regime

The Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 became law on 27 April 2026. It covers the occupation phase of a wider range of residential buildings than in England, regardless of height. A duty holder regime for building work in Wales, closely mirroring England’s, applies from 1 July 2026.

What it means for your accounts

Compliance costs money: competence checks, extra design time, record keeping and, for developers, the new levy. We help builders and developers build these costs into quotes, budgets and cash flow forecasts, and treat them correctly in the accounts.