Lords committee says staged approvals could ease BSR delays

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has called on the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to introduce staged approvals for higher-risk building projects, in a bid to reduce delays that are holding up new housing developments and essential remediation work.

In its report, The Building Safety Regulator: Building a better regulator, published on 11 December, the Committee acknowledges that the BSR has improved scrutiny in the design and construction sectors but warns that the current approval process is too slow and burdensome. In particular, it finds that the BSR is missing statutory targets for Gateway 2 decisions, leading to project hold-ups.

The report supports BSR plans to expand the use of staged approvals, allowing developers to begin work on critical elements like structure and fire safety without having to finalise the design of every component upfront. The Committee said the current approach, introduced to address historic failings in building control, had "overcorrected" and now risks stalling progress unnecessarily.

Under a revised system, staged approvals would still require early agreement on core safety measures, but defer less critical design decisions until later in the process. The Committee urged the BSR to strike a balance that maintains safety without introducing unnecessary delays.

The report also recommends streamlining approvals for minor, non-safety critical work in Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs), known as 'Category B' works. These currently fall under the same scrutiny as major works, which the Committee argues diverts skilled professionals away from more pressing safety tasks and creates avoidable delays and costs for leaseholders. It called on the Government to remove Category B works from BSR oversight or delegate them to other competent building control bodies.

Skills shortages were highlighted as another factor contributing to regulatory delays. The Committee noted difficulties in recruiting Registered Building Inspectors, fire engineers and structural specialists, and called for the Government's Construction Skills Action Plan to include long-term funding for training across these areas.

Uncertainty around regulatory expectations was also cited. The Committee said inconsistent guidance from the BSR’s multidisciplinary teams had made it harder for applicants to understand and meet safety requirements. To address this, it urged the BSR to publish case studies, offer clearer guidance, and guarantee at least one pre-application conversation with applicants.

While the Committee was broadly supportive of creating a single construction regulator, it advised delaying further structural changes to the BSR until it can deliver building control decisions reliably and within statutory timelines.

The report also made clear that the construction sector shares responsibility for delays. It noted that many applications are rejected or deferred due to basic errors or lack of evidence regarding fire and structural safety.

Without rapid improvements across all these areas, the Committee warned, government targets for new homes and cladding remediation are unlikely to be met.