Wholesaler Guide Building Safety Act 2022
Clare Klug, product marketing manager at Trimble Luckins, shares some insights on best practice for managing product information for safer buildings.
T
he Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced significant changes and responsibilities for the
construction and maintenance industries. The construction industry has long-since focused on health and safety practices on site but the Act shiſts the mandate, it stretches the responsibility to serve all those occupants of the building throughout its lifespan.
A key focus of the Act is now the management of product information, which is deemed critical for ensuring safety and compliance throughout the lifecycle of a building. The Act underscores the importance of accurate documentation, traceability, and accountability across the supply chain—from manufacturers to building owners. As such, effective product information management is now essential for meeting these new regulatory standards.
Emphasis on accurate documentation and record-keeping
With additional scrutiny on safety and information, one of the fundamental
26 | electrical wholesalerFebruary 2025
requirements of the Act is the need for precise documentation and thorough record-keeping. The safety and compliance of a building depends on reliable and up-to-date information about the products used during construction and maintenance. This is where the role of manufacturers becomes pivotal. They are responsible for providing accurate, regularly updated product data and making it easily accessible to contractors, sub-contractors, engineers, and building owners. To meet these demands, many in the industry turn to established datapools that offer comprehensive, verified product information. These platforms remove the burden from contractors by maintaining a central database of product information, which is automatically updated via API. As an example from the MEP industry, a unique TSI code assigned to each product ensures quick and easy reference to the relevant data. By using this identifier, contractors can seamlessly integrate product information into their internal systems and project documentation, ensuring compliance with the Building Safety Act.
Longevity and digital record-keeping The Act introduces the concept of a “Golden Thread” of information, which refers to a continuous digital record of all data related to a building’s design, construction, and ongoing maintenance. This is especially important for high- rise buildings, where safety is a top priority. The Golden Thread ensures that every product installed in the construction process is recorded, and that the information is kept up to date and easily accessible throughout the building’s lifecycle. The Act goes one step further and suggests that documentation be kept for a minimum of 15 years. This certainly requires changes in working practices, with many UK contractors using industry established datapools to reference as part of their digital evidence. This enables them to leverage resources from data experts that specialise in liaising with manufacturers and wholesalers to ensure the information is accurate.
Product traceability
Traceability is essential for ensuring that the products specified for a building are the same ones installed on-site. Often, what is
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