The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill

A recently introduced draft bill published in the House of Commons proposes to make important changes to building safety regulation in the UK. The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill (the “Bill”), presented on 14 October makes provisions for the registration of medium rise buildings and for enforcement of building safety legislation.  In addition, the Bill introduces amendments to the Building Safety Act 2022 that cover manufacturers’ liability regarding remediation.

The background to the new Bill over 2026 is that it follows in a chain of decisions in the UK High Court that have featured over 2026 with an indication given that the Courts favour placing the costs of remediation onto the shoulders of private sector organisations. The case law (including Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd v Ardmore Construction Ltd (In Administration) [2026] EWHC 789 (TCC) and HB (Wm) Ltd & Ors V Sto Ltd & Ors [2026] EWHC 1833 (TCC)), with its statutory support, is looking to find a balance between culpable parties, whether they be contractor, consultant, building owner, manufacturer or insurer.  The case law, thus far, has begun to consider the targeting of the balance of these interests with an apparent determination to fixing the remediation process and accelerating the time to completing the remediation process.

Expansion and Clarification

The impetus of the bill is to speed up remediation and to delineate responsibility for dealing with the costs of remediation. The bill contains a new duty to investigate, plan and remediate defects in buildings. Amongst the items of detail in the Bill is a proposed definition for “relevant buildings”, i.e. buildings that include two residential properties of at least 11 metres in height. These buildings are then deemed by proposed Part 3 of the Bill to be affected by the new changes. The interface with the high-risk building regime established under the Building Safety Act 2022, which applies to buildings of 18 metres plus, is a change of emphasis. The relevant sections of the Bill establishing the new duties include 1, 7, 8 and 40, which gives the intended definition of ‘relevant building’. These new sections describe the freshly introduced duties to investigate and remediate fire-related defects in buildings.

Part 2 of the Bill establishes obligations to create a register of medium-rise buildings in the jurisdiction. Under proposed section 54, the appropriate duty holder will be called upon to register the building and, once details are confirmed, provide specific information concerning the building. The definition applicable to ‘external wall’ for Part 1 of the Bill, including cladding product, is described at section 43.

Manufacture of Cladding Products

One of the central objectives of the proposed legislation and a key component of the Bill is the new approach taken to manufacturers’ liability for products that are found on the external envelope of high-rise buildings. The liability for remediation and for the costs of remediation is found in section 149 of the Building Safety Act 2022.

Section 149 is at present an important tool to pursue manufacturers of cladding products for liabilities that stem from materials found on the exterior of buildings and which are deemed to be unsafe. Section 149 (6) does this by creating a liability for manufacturers towards persons who incur economic or other specified losses as a result of defective cladding materials.

The changes proposed by the Bill are found from section 83ff. The main changes relate to the definitions that establish liability and the breadth of manufacturers’ actions and defaults that lead to liability. At s. 83(2) the Bill indicates a change of the existing condition for liability from making ‘a misleading statement’ to ‘engaging in misleading conduct’.  The same section of the Bill makes a change to liability that arises from a product that is inherently ‘defective’ to a product that is ‘unsafe’.

The Bill in detail then gives an explanation of what is misleading conduct. At draft section 83(6) the Bill states that “a person’s conduct (including any omissions), viewed as a whole, unreasonably creates a risk of another person being misled as to properties of performance of the product”.

and

The conduct maybe regarded as a risk if , “the person fails to warn against a use of a product that, although not its ordinary use, the person knows or should know is occurring or likely to occur”.

Building Ownership Information

Further provisions of the Bill are intended to provide a relevant authority, such as a local authority, with information that concerns the ownership of a residential building. In draft section 67, the Bill provides the relevant authority with powers to give to notice to relevant persons in order to obtain information regarding the ownership of a building.

The purpose appearing to be to streamline building remediation processes.

Conclusions

The Bill is a major step in the building safety remediation process. The decision as to how and what is remediated the timeframe for doing so and, ultimately, who pays has become a determination for the Courts. What is now seen in the latest proposals from the UK legislature is, it would seem, an approach that places a change of emphasis with manufacturers in all probability facing greater scrutiny. Should the Bill eventually pass, the interpretation of s.83 will become a point of interest, given its relevance for cladding product manufacturers and their liabilities. The proposed regulation of medium-rise properties and the ability to obtain building ownership information are amongst the other significant changes.

Six years following the Grenfell Tower disaster and two years following the Phase 2 Grenfell Inquiry Report, we continue to see proposals for change. But what will become more important in how the balance of liabilities is settled and where manufacturers and other dutyholders will be impacted by the Bill.