CLC publishes fresh gateway 2 guidance as building safety regulator says ‘everyone wants jobs on site as soon as possible’

The Construction Leadership Council has published fresh advice on submitting gateway 2 applications across seven guidance notes.

The delays have prompted a parliamentary inquiry into the problems and earlier this month Construction Leadership Council (CLC) co-chair Mark Reynolds told it that getting the waiting time down to just 13 weeks “would be a huge, huge step forward”.

Figures from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) show that the average amount of time it is taking to get gateway 2 safety sign-off is nine months – three times the planned 12 weeks timeframe.

Data covering the 18 months from 1 October 2023, when the gateway approvals process became live, to the end of March this year show the average amount of time to get safety sign-off is now 36 weeks.

In a 34-page update today, the CLC said its guidance “provides the baseline principles to guide those involved in submitting and assessing applications for Building Control Approval for Higher-Risk Buildings and includes practical recommendations on the approach and submission of relevant information”.

It added: “An application for Building Control Approval should provide quality, detailed information that clearly and comprehensively demonstrates how the design and construction of the Higher-Risk Building will comply with the Building Regulations 2010.”

The BSR sits within the Heath and Safety Executive and its deputy director Tim Galloway said: “We’ve supported construction industry leaders to write guidance, that speaks industry’s language, to help improve the quality of the applications that are being submitted.

“The guidance will help applicants demonstrate to themselves and BSR that their designs and plans will result in the safe, quality homes we all want. Applications that clearly demonstrate compliance are approved faster, and everyone in BSR wants those designs and plans off the page and onto site as quickly as possible.”

>> See also: Streamlining gateway 2: time to take a two-tiered approach to building safety approvals?

>> See also: Is the government’s Building Safety Regulator shake-up enough to fix the delays?

The guidance includes notes on sufficient level of design, document management and strategy and application strategy.

The initiative has been led by Berkeley’s divisional chairman Karl Whiteman who said: “The CLC has worked closely with the BSR and a broad range of leading technical experts from across the sector to develop robust and practical guidance for gateway 2 applications.

“This will help to improve the quality of submissions, ensure the regulator can approve them swiftly and consistently, and enable the sector to increase the delivery of safe and high-quality homes.”

Groups asked for their input included Local Authority Building Control, Build UK, Construction Products Association, the Home Builders Federation and the RIBA.