The consultation on changes to the building regulatory system is one of the most significant in recent years. Although the main focus is multi-occupancy residential buildings over 18m tall, many of the proposals will touch everyone in the industry.

As suggested by Hackitt, the new regime will be modelled on CDM regulations, with a client, principal designer and principal contractor. There will also be a subset of designer and contractor to cover specialist contractors and the rest of thedesign team. The responsibilities placed on the principal designer and contractor are quiteonerous, particularly at gateway two, the second of three milestones that span from planning application to building handover. The principaldesigner will need to submit a “full plans” application including the products to be used and a 3D model of the design.

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