Building safety after high rise fires: Update UK regulatory response

2026 – Global Building Safety Comments

Building safety and the destructive impact of high-rise fires continue to catch headlines across the globe. The November 2025 fire at the Wang Fuk Court complex in Hong Kong and its tragic loss of life is a wake-up call to regulators of the risk that high-rise developments pose when materials, regulation and safety are not prioritised. Less than six months earlier, another large high-rise fire caused extensive damage to Marina Pinnacle, Dubai, in that instance leading to the total evacuation of the complex with thankfully no fatalities.

Management of fire risk in high-rise developments is inevitably a global one and responses vary. The legislative approach followed by the UK in this area, notably the Building Safety Act 2022, continues to keep up its momentum with fresh proposals for regulation and oversight.  The schema of regulation and review continues to be developed in the UK with a range of new proposals that benchmark where future regulation can be directed.

The Wank Fuk Court disaster ought also to remind construction industry organisations and their insurers that managing risk in high-rise developments is a critical priority. Regulation, as seen in the growth of UK regulation, helps in the process of managing those risks although compliance and behaviours within the industry are likely to be central to avoiding future catastrophes.

UK Developments

The transformative Building Safety Act 2022 continues to be subject to review as it starts to have an impact upon the UK Construction Market. The much-heralded piece of legislation brought in (in part) in response to the Grenfell tragedy and wider concerns with building safety in the UK has been rolled out by the UK government since its initial coming into force in 2022.

Organisations compelled to comply with the Act have been grappling with the additional burden of regulatory compliance with the regime for higher-risk buildings overseen by the UK Building Safety Regulator (“BSR”). The regime, whilst it imposes increased regulation on construction organisations, was carefully considered by the UK Parliament and subsidiary bodies with the intention of creating a safer system of fire-risk compliance. The relevant government department (MHCLG) has kept the regime under review, partly due to the sequencing of the implementation of the legislation with the Grenfell Phase Two report (“Phase 2”), noting that the Act was drafted and preliminary implementation introduced prior to the publication of Phase 2 and the conclusion of evidence to the Inquiry.

The Inquiry, has been well publicised, provided a critical assessment of the performance of organisations linked with the Grenfell Disaster but (and importantly) the Inquiry made various recommendations for the improvement of the statutory and regulatory landscape for the UK Construction industry.

A series of significant announcements touching upon the Building Safety Act 2022 fell out of the UK Government at the end of 2024, suggesting that building safety and the necessity to develop a coherent regulatory system for the UK construction industry continues to be a government priority.

The recent UK announcements include:

• A Consultation document form MHCLG with a series of recommendations for proposed adoption by Government following up on the conclusions of Phase 2.
• A review of the higher-risk building regime and its conceivable extension to building developments currently outside of scope.
• A detailed statement from the Fire Engineers Advisory Panel. The statement provides an assessment of the standards to be expected of fire engineers.

The themes drawn from these announcements and developments, albeit reviewing different elements of specific for the UK construction sector, shed light on what government policy for fire regulation can resemble. Specifically, the developing direction of expectation that industry take further action to achieve compliance. This co-ordinated with a reassessment of the regulator process, its consolidation and proposed next steps promises a path through the fire safety and high-rise development issues that the Wang Fuk tragedy has given renewed attention to.

The Specifics of the Latest UK Developments

The Consultation Document

Published on 17 December 2025, the document (in addition to taking up the proposed single construction regulator), indicates the UK approach on a range of building safety matters co-ordinating those with proposals forming the basis of the consultation:

• A single regulator, shifting from an independent entity. The necessary draft legislation having been published post the publication of the 2024 Grenfell Report.
• The call for advancement of construction product regulation under the National Regulator of Construction Products.
• Construction professionals, with an emphasis on those in higher-risk roles, will be subject to-going scrutiny.

The consultation constructs a series of principles and questions that are foundational to the proposals. The proposals coalesce around the interests of residents and the reciprocal trust relationship seen in other industries is drawn upon. Responses are due in by 20 March 2026.

Review of the Higher-Risk Building Regime

The UK’s Higher-Risk Building Regime in its current guise is formed by the Building Safety Act 2022 together with the supporting secondary legislation. The formulation of the current definition as given below in turn was in part fruit of the review processes preceding the Grenfell Inquiry reports and the passing of the Building Safety Act in 2022. The review document, deriving from the Grenfell Phase 2 recommendations, does not make explicit calls for the regime to be changed but rather provides principles whereby the regime can be monitored in accordance with how the needs of the industry change.

The definition in use at present and set out in the legislation is categorised by height. MHCLG recognise that characteristics of end-users are also relevant considerations. The review concludes that factors such as that mentioned above together with the capacity of the regulator and cost implications are inherently important. The regime though is considered nascent and dramatic changes now unnecessary and potentially unhelpful. The continued review of the regime is recommended.

The Fire Engineering Advisory Panel – Authoritative Statement

A further review arising from the Phase 2 Grenfell report and conducted by a dedicated UK Government panel ‘FEAP’ and published in December 2025, gives something of a clearer view of how the fire engineering profession envisages future regulation within its profession. The statement interrogates on an individual basis how fire engineers fit into the fire-safety puzzle. The role adopted by fire engineers has grabbed industry headlines leading to calls for a formally regulated profession. FEAP comprised of a combination of civil servants, politicians and experts is supportive of the formal regulation of fire engineers with its conclusions indicating to Government that regulation should be a priority within an environment that is mindful of the burdens that follow a regulated environment.

Summary

The Hong Kong tragedy is a powerful reminder of the consequences of failings in building safety whether in connection with specification, design, material or installation failings. Preliminary reports are that multiple failures led to the incident.

For those who insure buildings and construction professionals the steps the UK has taken can be a sounding board for a regulatory system that is developing into a coherent system of product, design and maintenance oversight.  Trans-jurisdictional collaboration of regulation, manufacture and best practice could turn out to be a possible route through that in the future prevents fires of the nature of that witnessed in November 2025. Insurers typically have exposure to projects and building portfolios and are well placed to notice trends and improvements in construction risks.

For the UK, 2026 has commenced with a continuing and re-established appetite from Government to take up the building safety agenda. In the following months, we are likely to see:

• Conclusion of the Consultation
• Construction Products regulation – White Paper – Spring 2026
• Updates concerning the regulation of professionals within the construction sector

The UK building safety developments are a helpful case study in the growth of a regulatory system designed to bring about a reduction of risks in construction.

For construction professionals (contractors and professional consultants eg. architects, engineers, fire safety professionals etc.) as well as product manufacturers, the Hong Kong fire and UK legislative approach should be reminder against complacency when it comes to compliance.