BUILDING SAFETY
How modern methods of construction weave The Golden Thread
Seven years on from the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, Steve Chesters, business unit director at HadleyFRAME, the offsite pre-panelised manufacturing company, reflects on the evolution of building safety and how modern methods of construction can weave that all important Golden Thread for regulators
What is The Golden Thread?
In 2018, the Hackitt Review detailed the failing regulatory system for high-rise and complex buildings, with the then current system being not fit for purpose. Now, in 2025, steps have been taken to create a new regulatory framework focused on multi-occupancy higher-risk residential buildings (HRRBs). This includes the golden thread, a digital
record of information about the building that complies with legal duties and helps to manage building safety. It contains relevant health and safety information, original plans and drawings
for a building, proof of regulations compliance and a completion certificate from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) that states the building complies with regulations and is being properly managed and maintained so that it is suitable for living. Traditionally, health and safety risk registers would have often sat disconnected from the digital information held for the completed asset, but now, there is a shared onus of accountability.
This is monumental for the industry and ushers in a new era of additional responsibility for senior leaders, with regulatory compliance becoming
both a legal and moral duty for those to in charge to ensure safety and peace of mind. It also provides a better working collaboration, or ‘thread’, between the multiple stakeholders involved in an assets life cycle and encourages agile ways of working that create a common approach among all parties.
High rise buildings helping to meet targets
The raising standard of building safety in the UK comes at a time where the government’s promise to match ambitious targets is at a crossroads. The current aim is for 370,000 new homes to be built in England every year, to fulfil a government promise for 1.5m new homes within the next five years, however Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has admitted a sharp surge is needed to meet these promises. High-rise buildings are already a contested solution to the housing crisis, despite being seen as an efficient use of land in congested towns and cities. Over the past seven years since the landmark
review, the construction industry has struggled to come to a unified decision about the best process for the safety of HRRBs. Traditional building methods for these types of projects can be complicated, costly, and time consuming, making it even more difficult to keep track of that all-important golden thread. But businesses which are ahead of the curve and integrating modern methods of construction (MMC) could play a huge role in helping to weave the golden thread and ensure the country stays on track.
The changing methods of construction
Industrialised and off-site construction techniques, such as mass production and
16 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER FEBRUARY 2026 Read the latest at:
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