The Building Safety Act’s gateway system offers developers a chance to minimise expensive, time-consuming redesigns by consulting with warranty providers during the design stage of complex projects.
The gateway system will require that building plans are submitted to the Building Safety Regulator at early stages, and the regulator will then work in tandem with a Local Authority Building Control (LABC) team, or Registered Approver, to assess and approve these designs.
There is a risk to developers under this process that they could progress through the system of gaining acceptance from the Building Safety Regulator but later on find their plans are not compliant with the requirements of a warranty provider.
This situation offers a significant opportunity to make warranty providers a stronger de-risking partner on high-rise buildings.
Where and how to find the opportunity
The opportunity for enhanced service from your warranty provider appears here in three areas.
Early engagement pays dividends
By engaging with LABC Warranty at an early stage, customers gain benefits that significantly enhance their project outcomes.
LABC Warranty offers comprehensive early engagement, aimed at de-risking projects even before the plans are submitted to the Building Safety Regulator.
This collaborative approach involves working closely with your team during the design stage of your projects, enabling a seamless transition through design, review, and site implementation.
One of the key advantages of early engagement is the heightened understanding customers gain regarding the products and materials required to achieve compliance.
By partnering with LABC Warranty from the outset, customers are empowered to secure materials well in advance, effectively helping reduce inflationary pressures within their supply chain.
This proactive approach not only ensures a smoother project progression but also enables customers to optimise their procurement strategies, minimising potential delays and cost escalations.
With you for the whole process
Without the early input of your warranty provider, designs may pass inspection from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), but they may not be compliant with the technical standards of your warranty provider.
If any alterations are needed to the designs, there may be significant time and monetary costs, going back to the proverbial drawing board to bring designs into compliance. Not to mention potential delays and material waste during the construction phase.
“Our London division has worked with LABC Warranty for several years. With their collaborative approach and early engagement, they have assisted us in delivering our homes to a high quality. We are delighted to extend this approach into the latest stage of our Colindale Gardens development.”
Anton Smith, redrow’s senior technical director, Redrow
To minimise the risk of time and material waste, it will be prudent to involve your warranty provider before submitting an application, ideally as early as RIBA Design Stage 2.
A unique partnership working for you
Under the new gateway system, there is a high probability that the building control functions affecting your site will be undertaken by Local Authority Building Control, including the crucial review of designs at early gateways.
LABC Warranty’s extensive work with LABC puts them in the best position to help you produce designs that are accepted without delay, include the design features that set your work apart from your competition, and will satisfy warranty requirements when it’s time to build.
Embrace early engagement today
The LABC Warranty early engagement service is available to everyone that signs up to our Major Projects Service.
If you’re planning a high-rise project that will require a structural warranty, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team here
Where the Major Projects team will be in 2024
LABC Warranty joins Higgins on Ledbury Estate
LABC Warranty will join Higgins Partnerships and Southwark Council on the delivery of the Ledbury Estate, in Peckham, London. The LABC Warranty Major Projects Service will contribute consultation and structural warranty support on 20 open market homes and 60 social homes across two blocks of up to 14 storeys.
“We’re delighted to have a quality, experienced warranty provider LABC Warranty support us again on this development,” said Higgins senior project coordinator Craig Barnes.
“Their proactive, collaborative approach on other developments has shown they’re a capable and valued partner on high-rise projects.”
Local residents voted to demolish four existing tower blocks to replace them with high-quality new housing, and LABC Warranty will be responsible for assisting Higgins in delivering the first 80 units of a scheme that will eventually deliver 340 new housing units to the area.
Read more about this development here.
Redrow welcomes LABC Warranty to 20th Colindale block
LABC Warranty has been chosen by Redrow to provide latent defects insurance cover for Block W of the developer’s flagship Colindale development in Barnet, north London.
It will be the 20th block of the 3,000-unit development that LABC Warranty has worked alongside Redrow in a project relationship extending back to the initial phases in 2016.
Anton Smith, redrow’s senior technical director, said: “Our London division has worked with LABC Warranty for several years. With their collaborative approach and early engagement, they have assisted us in delivering our homes to a high quality. We are delighted to extend this approach into the latest stage of our Colindale Gardens development.”
Block W features a nine-storey structure of 213 residential apartments, including 55 affordable homes.
With four further blocks approved by Barnet council’s planners, Colindale will eventually deliver more than 4,000 much needed, high-quality homes with completion scheduled for 2028.
Read more about this development here.
See more projects from LABC Warranty’s Major Projects Service
Read more about the design certainty and consultancy your next project can incorporate through the LABC Warranty Major Projects Service here
