Implementing the Building Safety Act – ADC

Key elements of the Building Safety Act were implemented on 1st October. For designers working on Higher Risk Buildings (in England), in particular, the act will entail additional duties and responsibilities. Prior to the Building Safety Act becoming law, Knauf UK & Ireland spoke to 150 architects and 150 main contractors to find out how companies are preparing for the impact of the legislation, and to understand how we can provide them with help and support in respect of compliance.

In August 2023, we asked them about their understanding of the new rules as well as their ability and preparedness to deliver on the requirements and comply with the regulatory changes. Their responses provide a snapshot of the state of industry in the weeks prior to the main elements of the Act coming into being.

Understanding the golden thread

The good news was that every company we spoke to, regardless of size, was aware of the Building Safety Act and the golden thread. Forming a key element of the Building Safety Act, the golden thread is a live electronic record that must be kept up-to-date throughout the lifecycle of the building. It has been introduced to support the sharing of project information at the right time with the right people, including up to date safety information. The golden thread relates to the building’s design, construction, and once occupied, its management.

While awareness of the Building Safety Act was high, there was a gap in knowledge with 29 per cent of respondents being unfamiliar with the requirements for their company to meet the golden thread. In terms of understanding a company’s responsibilities in relation to the golden thread, 33 per cent of all companies lacked confidence with the figure increasing to 43 per cent for smaller companies.

Measuring preparedness

On a more positive note, 85 per cent of respondent companies said they have the skills and digital competence needed to provide the searchable digital record of information required. More generally, we asked: “To what extent has your business planned for the various changes outlined in the Building Safety Act?” The responses indicated that company size is important. With just over one month to go, 20 per cent of large companies already had a robust system in place and operational.

However, this also flagged a portion of the audience yet to plan for the implementation. 37 per cent of those questioned had yet to start planning or were not confident that their plan was adequate. In addition, 27 per cent of architects questioned were less confident that their plans would meet the requirements of the Act compared to only 15 per cent of contractors.

Fast tracking readiness

As a responsible manufacturer, Knauf UK & Ireland has a key role in helping architects and contractors comply with the golden thread element of the Building Safety Act. This is why we’ve enhanced our flagship digital tool, Knauf Planner Suite, with new functionality.

Launched last year, Planner Suite is Knauf’s single-source manufacturer specification system to support architects and contractors on their planning journey. The digital tool has been developed to provide specifiers with the confidence that Knauf’s product and systems will meet regulatory and specification requirements.

All Knauf systems on Planner Suite are fully validated with all supporting fire, acoustic and stiffness data, which is available on request via the digital tool. New Planner Suite features and functions include:

• Projects tool: this enables specifiers to create their own projects on the tool, to which they can add a suite of validated Knauf systems
• Optimisation tool: this enables customers to compare systems, optimising the best solution for their project, as well as ‘favouriting’ their most common build-ups.
• Specification tool: this allows customers to produce and download a full K10 specification document, complete with Knauf K10 Specification Clauses.

How helpful is Planner Suite? 96 per cent of our survey respondents who had used Knauf Planner Suite in the past found the digital tool to be useful. What’s more, 80 per cent of those surveyed expected the site’s new functionality to be useful or very useful.

Contact Details

To find out how useful Knauf Planner Suite could be to your project go to the Planner Suite Systemfinder (web application) or as a BIM Plug-In for Revit and ArchiCAD.