Building and fire safety law and policy

Building and fire safety are complex and rapidly changing areas of law and policy in the UK, with significant implications for those drafting construction contracts, advising on projects, and acting in disputes.

Developments following the Grenfell Tower fire

Following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, the UK government, and the Scottish and Welsh governments, have implemented several courses of action intended to address acute concerns regarding building safety, with a focus on better-protecting residents of high-rise residential buildings.

In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Fire, the UK government carried out an independent review of the Building Regulations and fire safety laws. The final report was published on 17 May 2018 (the Hackitt report). It set out over 50 recommendations, including a new regulator to oversee the construction and management of buildings. See News Analysis: The Hackitt fire safety report—does it go far enough?

In addition, effective from December 2018, the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2018, SI 2018/1230 amended the Building Regulations so as to ban the use of combustible materials in the construction of external walls of high-rise residential buildings (and certain

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Latest Construction News

Scottish Government publishes Q3 2025 progress update on Cladding Remediation Programme

The Scottish Government's Cladding Remediation Directorate has published its Q3 2025 progress update on the Cladding Remediation Programme. The programme received 1,062 expressions of interest (EoIs) via the Single Open Call, with submissions nearly equally divided between factors or property managers and social landlords. However, 368 of these EoIs were deemed ineligible for programme funding to conduct Single Building Assessments (SBAs). In total, 478 initial grant or funding offers were issued, with the vast majority provided to local authorities and registered social landlords. Among the 16 Single Building Assessments conducted using the specification published in June 2024, all confirmed that remediation work was necessary. The programme's total expenditure for the financial years 2020–22 through 30 September 2025 reached £14.2m.

Commons Committee calls for practical reforms to section 106, CIL and viability to support housing delivery

On 28 October 2025, the House of Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee published its Third Report of Session 2024–26, Delivering 1.5 million new homes: Land Value Capture, setting out recommendations on section 106 agreements, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), viability policy and the New Towns programme.

CIC announces BSI approval of new British Standard on sustainability competence

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has announced that the British Standards Institution (BSI) Planning and Approval Team formally approved a proposal on 22 October 2025 to develop a new British Standard on sustainability competence. The standard will be based on The Edge and CIC’s ‘Competence Framework for Sustainability in the Built Environment’, released in February 2025. It is intended to outline sustainability criteria for competence frameworks across the built environment sector and to support the development of sector-specific guidance that reflects the appropriate scope and level of competence required for defined roles, functions and activities.

NEC launches new online drafting platform: NEC Digital

The New Engineering Contract (NEC) has launched NEC Digital, a subscription-based online drafting platform intended to streamline and automate contract creation for construction project stakeholders. The platform provides smart tools, real-time collaboration features and contextual, tailored guidance to support users of NEC Contracts. NEC Digital aims to reduce risk and ensure compliance in contract creation. It enables secure collaboration among project team members and includes automated processes and standards-compliant submissions for construction contracting.