- The Health and Safety Executive’s second building safety conference saw over 1,300 delegates sharing knowledge and collaborating on solutions to create a safer built environment for everyone
- Translating the new regulatory framework into actionable steps, ensuring the safety of both existing and future buildings
- Calls on industry to commit to building a culture of safety and accountability
- Ensuring residents’ voices are heard in the journey towards safer homes.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) held its second industry conference in Birmingham this week.
The conference marked a major milestone for BSR as the new building safety regime was fully established in law last month.
With over 1,300 delegates in attendance, the conference provided a platform for industry leaders, regulators and resident representatives to discuss the ongoing transformation of the building safety landscape.
The conference showcased BSR’s resident-centric approach, with several sessions dedicated to industry accountability and empowering residents to ensure their voices are heard in building safety decisions which affect their homes.
Sarah Newton, Chair of HSE and Philip White, HSE’s Chief Inspector of Buildings and Director of Building Safety Division opened the conference, highlighting BSR’s achievements and outlining its future priorities.
Sarah Newton said: “We are committed to putting residents at the heart of everything we do.
“At HSE, we understand that building safety is not just about regulation and compliance; it is about people – their lives, their homes, and their communities.
“The new building safety regime is designed to give residents a stronger voice and for industry to ensure that their homes are safe.
“Today gave those on the building safety frontlines the chance to share our knowledge and collaborate on solutions to translate the new regulatory framework into actionable steps, ensuring the safety of both existing and future buildings.”
Philip White said: “So much has happened in the last year, and at such pace – showing how much we can achieve together when we have a common goal.
“More than 12,000 buildings have been registered with the regulator and many of our conference delegates, along with others across the UK have already registered as building inspectors and demonstrated their competence.
“Building control professionals play a critical role in ensuring the safety and quality of our built environment – and above all, being regulated will raise industry standards and increase public trust.”
The conference was also addressed by Minister for Housing Lee Rowley who acknowledged the significant progress made during a time of great change for the industry.
Other key topics discussed at the event included:
- Industry accountability and ownership in delivering safe buildings
- BSR’s firm but fair approach to enforcement
- The critical role of building control professionals in raising standards
- A need for continued collaboration between industry, regulators and residents.
Panel discussions were hosted with the Construction Leadership Council, emphasising the importance of building safety as a strategic priority for the entire industry.
The conference also extended beyond the UK, with Dan O’Brien, CEO of Cladding Safety Victoria in Australia attending as part of an information-gathering visit. His attendance highlighted the vital international collaboration and knowledge-sharing currently taking place in the field of building safety.
The conference sessions and materials will be available online in the coming weeks.
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Notes to Editors:
- About BSR: HSE has established a Building Safety Regulator under the Building Safety Act 2022. We regulate higher risk buildings, ensuring residents feel safe in their homes. We work to improve safety standards for all buildings. And we drive cultural change in the built environment by helping professionals in building control, design, and construction, to improve their competence.
- About HSE: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise.
- About the Building Safety Act, 2022: The Building Safety Act gained Royal Assent on the 28 April 2022 and makes ground-breaking reforms to give residents and homeowners more rights, powers, and protections. The Act overhauls existing regulations, creating lasting change and makes clear how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained, and made safe.
- For media enquiries please email: media.enquiries@hse.gov.uk