Cost consultant says wary firms turning down chance to bid schemes becasue of worried over viability of schemes and builders

London cost consultant Exigere has said that façade contractors are switching their focus away from high-rise residential jobs because of the ongoing hold-ups getting gateway 2 safety clearance.

In a sentiment survey, the firm, which is working as the cost consultant on a £200m scheme to build a new office block in Moorgate called Tenter House, added that the design teams of façade contractors were working at or above capacity – but their factories were underutilised because of the delays.

The report said: “The gateway 2 backlog is contributing to many façade contractors having their in-house design teams working at or over capacity while their factories remain underutilised.

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Facade contractors are worried about the time gateway 2 checks are taking and have switched focus to commercial jobs, Exigere said

“This bottleneck presents a significant challenge. We anticipate that many façade contractors will struggle to deliver their ‘in-design’ pipeline once given the green light and many clients may find themselves at the back of the queue despite believing they had secured factory slots to meet project programmes.”

And it said that even though tender enquiries for commercial jobs were heading up, not all were getting to site because of bottlenecks and rising material costs and the supply of glass.

It added: “Many façade contractors are shifting focus away from higher-risk buildings [18m or above] in the residential sector due to the uncertainty of delivery timescales, unclear project programmes and fears that projects may eventually stall.

“The gateway system aspect of the Building Safety Act could certainly benefit from refinement to help ensure façade contractors remain engaged in the residential sector. This may, in turn, place upward pressure on prices to meet such a sudden spike in demand.”

Last week, the government unveiled a major shake-up of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) amid mounting concern over delays to approval of high-rise residential schemes.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced it was setting up a new board to take over the functions of the BSR from the Health & Safety Executive.

MHCLG also announced it will introduce a new “fast-track process” to speed up approvals through the new building safety system.

Concern has been mounting in the sector about delays to approval of high-rise blocks, particularly at the pre-construction gateway 2 check stage under the Building Safety Act.

More than 100 new staff members will be added to the BSR workforce, which MHCLG said will help reduce delays.

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