But group says it does not expect ‘any knock-on impact on gateway 2 work’

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has said it is trying to work out how many high-rise schemes have been caught up in the collapse of building control firm Assent.

The Wakefield-based firm, set up in 2005, is set to go into liquidation with over 70 jobs lost.

Worries have grown over how many high-rise schemes, known as HRBs, have been affected by the firm’s implosion and what impact its demise will have on the regulator’s plan to clear the backlog of HRBs stalled at gateway 2 stage.

andy roe 2

BSR chair Andy Roe wants to clear the backlog of schemes held up by gateway 2 paperwork by January next year

But in an update this lunchtime, the BSR, which is chaired by Andy Roe, said “we do not envisage a knock-on impact on our overall GW2 work”.

Assent’s business included two Registered Building Control Approvers, Oculus Building Consultancy and LB Building Control.

Under proposals announced last month, the BSR said it wants to cleat the backlog, which it said was more than 90 schemes, by January next year.

In an update on Assent’s collapse, the BSR said: “We are working to confirm the exact number but we are currently aware of 10 HRB projects still held by LB or Oculus under the pre-HRB transition model. We have asked the RBIs [registered building inspectors] involved in these projects to get in touch with us directly.

“We appreciate the importance of continuity and intend to secure resources to limit any delays. We have also asked RBIs who were working with us on the framework to contact us directly. While the cases they were working on will need to be reallocated, we do not envisage a knock-on impact on our overall GW2 work.”

The BSR is under severe pressure to cut the average time that firms are waiting for gateway 2 approval which across the UK currently stands at 43 weeks, while in London the wait is 48 weeks.

In its last set of accounts for the year to December 2023, Assent blamed an “operational restructure to ensure the effective management of all projects” for turnover falling nearly 60% to £2.8m.

The firm remained in the red although pre-tax losses narrowed to £354,000 from £1.4m. According to the accounts, Assent had 71 employees.

Last year, two other building control companies collapsed. AIS Surveyors was put into liquidation last June while PWC Building Control Services was put into liquidation in September.

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