Navigating the Building Safety Act: A Guide to Compliance with Shepherd Gilmour

Andrew Waddington
Jun 30
4 min read

Updated: Jul 4

A high risk building on a blue background with icons depicting regulations and checklists and the title Navigating the Building Safety Act: A guide to compliance with shepherd gilmour

The Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced a new era of accountability, transparency, and risk management within the UK construction sector. It is a landmark piece of legislation that significantly changes how buildings, particularly higher-risk ones, are designed, constructed, and maintained.

In this guide, we outline what the Act means for those involved in construction and building management, explain the benefits of compliance, and demonstrate how Shepherd Gilmour is helping clients meet their obligations and deliver safer, more robust projects. Further reading is appended to the end of the article for those interested in learning more.

What Is the Building Safety Act and Who Does It Affect?

The Act was introduced in response to systemic failures identified in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Its purpose is to improve building safety across the entire lifecycle, from early design to long-term management.

It applies most directly to buildings classified as Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs); those at least 18 metres or 7 storeys in height and containing at least two residential units. However, the cultural shift it demands extends across the built environment and there are even implications to those involved in small scale domestic projects, such as builders and professional consultants.

This guide shall predominantly focus on the high-level changes to commercial projects and HRB’s, but for those involved in small scale domestic projects, we have written another article Domestic Building Projects & The Building Regulations, which goes into greater detail regarding the specific roles, responsibilities and legal duties, clients, builders, engineers and architects must uphold.

Key features of the Act include:

A new Building Safety Regulator with enforcement powers.
The requirement for a clearly defined ‘golden thread’ of building information, accessible and accurate throughout a building's life.
Dutyholder roles during design, construction and occupation, ensuring clear accountability.
The need for a Building Safety Case for occupied HRBs, demonstrating ongoing safety measures.
New competency requirements for those working on buildings.

Whether you're a developer, designer, contractor, or building owner, the implications are broad and long-lasting.

Diagram of a "Higher-Risk Building" with 18m or 7+ storeys, showing icons and text about residential units, hospitals, care homes.

Why Compliance Matters: Key Benefits for Clients

Meeting the requirements of the Act is not just about legal compliance, it also provides tangible benefits for clients and stakeholders:

Greater clarity and accountability at every project stage reduces risk and confusion.
Improved design and construction quality, minimising defects and rework.
Better access to accurate building data, supporting future maintenance, upgrades and resale.
Reduced liability exposure and enhanced insurability.
Increased asset value due to transparency and regulatory assurance.

By embedding safety and information integrity from the outset, clients can expect smoother projects and more robust long-term outcomes.

How Shepherd Gilmour Can Help You Stay Compliant

At Shepherd Gilmour, we have embraced the changes brought by the Building Safety Act as an opportunity to raise the bar further in our design and project support services.

Here’s how we are helping clients stay compliant and confident:

We embed the golden thread early, ensuring critical design and safety information is documented clearly and consistently.
Our engineers are familiar with the dutyholder roles under the Act and CDM 2015, enabling us to advise on responsibilities and interfaces at each project stage.
We have strengthened our QA systems to align with new competency and traceability requirements.
Where relevant, we help clients prepare or contribute to Safety Case documentation and ensure design information is fit for submission to the Building Safety Regulator.
We maintain up-to-date knowledge of related standards, such as BS 8670 and PAS 9980, so our advice remains current, accurate, and risk-aware.

Whether we are acting as Lead Designer, specialist structural consultant, or coordinating with principal designers and contractors, we provide clients with technical assurance and proactive compliance support.

Navigating Design Gateways and Compliance Requirements to Meet Your Obligations

Successfully navigating the Building Safety Act requires early coordination, clear documentation, and structured decision-making throughout a building’s lifecycle. A key element introduced by the legislation is the three statutory Gateways, which function as formal checkpoints for higher-risk buildings and place new responsibilities on clients, designers, and contractors.

These Gateways are as follows:

Gateway One – Planning: This occurs at the planning application stage and requires a Fire Statement to demonstrate how fire safety is considered in the early design. This ensures that life safety is embedded from the outset, not retrofitted later.
Gateway Two – Pre-construction: Before construction can begin, full plans must be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator for approval. All dutyholders must prove that the design complies with building regulations and that competent professionals are in place to carry out the work.
Gateway Three – Pre-occupation: Before the building can be occupied, the Regulator must be satisfied that the works have been completed in accordance with approved plans and that the ‘golden thread’ of safety information has been maintained and submitted.

Three panels labeled Gateway 1-3 show stages: Planning (pencil), Pre-construction (crane), Pre-occupation (clipboard). Red stop signs.

To ensure compliance and avoid costly delays, we advise clients to:

Understand their role, particularly if acting as Client, Principal Designer, or Accountable Person under the Act.
Engage competent consultants who are familiar with the Gateways process and golden thread principles.
Establish a clear compliance strategy early, so that safety-critical decisions and documentation are in place at the right stages.
Coordinate across disciplines to avoid information gaps that may compromise Gateway approval or the final safety case.
Maintain robust design records from planning through to handover, as required for regulator scrutiny and long-term asset management.

At Shepherd Gilmour, we support clients through each of the Gateways by embedding compliance into our design approach, coordinating key deliverables, and helping to prepare documentation for submission. Our technical understanding of the Act, combined with our methodical and collaborative way of working, ensures that our clients meet their obligations with confidence, without compromising on design integrity or delivery certainty.

How to Get Support

The Building Safety Act marks a shift in how we think about responsibility, safety, and long-term stewardship in construction. It is not just a compliance obligation, it is an opportunity to build better.

At Shepherd Gilmour, we welcome this change. It reinforces our commitment to clarity, diligence, and design integrity. Whether you are starting a new scheme or need help aligning an ongoing project with current regulations, we are ready to support you.