NEWS
Contractors’ Corner
Clients ‘ignoring building safety’ C
onstruction clients are failing to engage with the new building safety regime, according to research by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). The Association used its regional meetings with members as ‘focus groups’ over six months to gauge the take-up of measures introduced under the Building Safety Act and the level of awareness of roles, responsibilities and risks associated with the legislation, which has been in force since 2022. The main fi nding was a “total lack of engagement”
from clients, with BESA members reporting that “not a single client” had discussed compliance with them. They asserted that, far from seeing evidence of any signifi cant culture change, the pressure to deliver projects faster and more cheaply was increasing at the expense of quality and safety. Members from all UK regions confi rmed that
project decisions remained primarily driven by cost and speed, particularly by owners and developers whose buildings were not classifi ed as ‘higher risk’ (HRBs). This confi rmed the suspicion that most clients believe the Act only applies to this type of building.
The meetings followed in-depth research commissioned by BESA last year, revealing that, while awareness of the legislation was rising, contractors and clients were confused about their roles and responsibilities, and there was little discernible change.
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“As there is currently very little enforcement of the legislation and, therefore, no apparent consequences, clients are still subjecting contractors to aggressive and sub-economic pricing,” said BESA’s director of specialist knowledge, Rachel Davidson.
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“Not a single client has asked any of our members about compliance with the Act. Tenders are still being won on the lowest price and still being value-engineered throughout the project on non-HRB works. “Several contractors who insisted on applying more rigorous safety measures said
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