Teams working on Gateway 2 submissions should engage early with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and clearly set out team responsibilities, according to Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB)’s National Head of Health & Safety, Samantha Mepham.
Speaking at ‘How to ensure fire safety compliance in Gateway 2 submissions’ webinar organised by Construction Management, she advised that early engagement was crucial for complex schemes and helped avoid inconsistent rulings. Mepham said she had seen examples of similar schemes that were rejected by the BSR for different reasons, but that early engagement with BSR could help avoid this.
Clarity on principal designer roles key
Samantha said:
“Not everybody knows that you can engage early with the BSR, and it is most valuable with complex schemes or where you have multiple buildings.”
Mepham also recommended being very clear on principal designer and principal contractor roles early in projects. She said it was “easy to get confused” between the role of principal designer for building regulation and for CDM, and it was “critical” to establish competent individuals were in place for both roles.
She added that building regulation principal designers were often assumed to be responsible for some of the prescribed documents required for Gateway 2,
“but it is technically a client’s obligation to do those prescribed documents with that assistance”.
This article is an abridged version that first appeared in Construction Management.
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