Policy paper

Building Safety Regulator strategic plan 2026 to 2027

Published 31 March 2026

Applies to England

Foreword

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) sits at the heart of the government’s mission to create safe and thriving communities, support economic growth, and deliver 1.5 million high-quality homes for residents. Its role is central to advancing building safety and restoring confidence in the safety of people’s homes.

Through its vital work, BSR is strengthening building safety across the country – protecting residents, raising standards, and making sure those responsible for buildings are held to account. These reforms are already delivering tangible improvements, including stronger oversight of new build applications, progress on remediation, and action to address legacy safety issues.

This strategic plan sets out the ambition for the year ahead. It demonstrates how continued progress in building safety will go hand in hand with growth, while delivering meaningful improvements to the experience of residents in their homes.

The achievements of BSR are underpinned by the dedication and expertise of its staff. Their work has delivered a step change in building safety, strengthening the design, construction and management of high-rise residential buildings, raising professional standards, holding duty holders to account, and addressing risks in existing buildings.

They have also strengthened BSR’s relationship with the construction industry by maintaining open and constructive dialogue and investing in sustained engagement efforts. This has included working proactively with industry partners to set clearer expectations and address challenges, helping to build trust and promote a more consistent approach to building safety across the sector, while ensuring accountabilities remain clear.

I would like to personally recognise the leadership of Charlie Pugsley KFSM, Acting Chief Executive Officer, and Lord Roe KFSM, Chair of the BSR Board, whose experience and commitment are guiding the organisation with clarity and purpose as they take on the mantel from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Their direction is fundamental to ensuring BSR enters the next phase of delivery and provides strong foundations for the future single construction regulator.

As we deliver new homes, accelerate remediation, and continue to advance building safety for all residents, safety and growth will go hand in hand, with BSR at the forefront of this national effort.

Samantha Dixon MP

Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy

Introduction

Everyone should have a home that is safe and makes them feel safe. We are responsible for the safety of people in and around buildings and monitoring higher-risk buildings (HRBs). We want to be part of the solution to building safe, quality new homes and ensuring existing homes are maintained well.

The Grenfell Tower tragedy exposed systemic failings across the construction sector and within government that showed a disregard for building safety and human lives. It is the reason the Building Safety Act 2022 came into law, and that BSR was established to enforce that law.

Having benefitted from the expertise of HSE to establish the regulator, on 27 January 2026 we took our next significant step as we moved to a standalone non-departmental public body (NDPB) sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

As a new organisation we will be part of the foundations of a single construction regulator as recommended by Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. The creation of this new regulator is being led by MHCLG, and where we can, we will help shape the proposals for that new regulator using our experience and learning to ensure that the new single regulator is successful.

This means a lot of change now and in our future. We are exploring new ways of working, new technology, and how we achieve our aim of being accountable, collaborative and proportionate as a standalone independent regulator. We are committed to realising the full potential of this opportunity and have developed this strategic plan to achieve this. In this context, we have agreed with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to publish a 1-year strategic plan covering April 2026 to March 2027, with a 3-year strategic plan to cover 2027 to 2030 to follow.

In the development of this strategic plan, we have consulted with the statutory Residents’ Panel, our partner regulators, and the BSR board. It has been agreed by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

How we’ll put residents at the heart of what we do

BSR’s core strength is its people, with our strong ethics, moral focus, and commitment to our purpose. Each decision we make reflects our responsibility and pride in our remit to protect residents in their homes. We listen, we learn, we collaborate, and we act with resident safety and wellbeing as fundamental principles guiding what we do.

Through the Residents’ Panel, engagement sessions and feedback channels, we strive to embed residents’ views and lived experience into policy and operations. We also design and deliver communications that raise awareness of safety responsibilities and support training for resident duty holders.

We will routinely invite a member of the Residents’ Panel to update the new BSR board. To ensure we hear a diversity of perspectives, we directly engage with charities, organisations and interest groups across the resident landscape. We seek challenge and diversity of thought, acknowledging that residents’ needs vary widely.

We exist to protect people, empower them so they are heard, and ensure their safety shapes the decisions that matter most.

Our mission and values

As a proportionate and enabling regulator, our mission is to maintain and improve safety standards for the built environment. We will know we are successful when we are universally acknowledged as a trusted regulator, integral to the safety of the built environment, and collaborative whilst holding those responsible to account, as well as being held accountable ourselves.

We enable the building of safe new homes, raise standards in existing homes, and help create a culture where safety and accountability, as well as transparency, are part of everyday practice in the built environment.

We believe that everyone shares our goal to have buildings that are safe and to standard. We work together with residents and industry to ensure safe, high-quality homes for everyone.

Our values mean that we are:

• collaborative, sharing what we know and actively seeking out the knowledge and experience of residents, industry, and others in government to improve our processes and published information
• proportionate, only acting when we must, when it is necessary for safety, using our powers reasonably, equally, and fairly
• accountable, holding both others and ourselves to account – we are ready to show that we are keeping people and their homes safe while spending public money wisely

Reviewing our performance over 2023 to 2026

Our first strategic plan was published in April 2023 and covered the 3 years from April 2023 to March 2026.

Since then, BSR has made important steps toward regulating the built environment in England. We have:

• become the largest building control authority in England
• introduced, for the first time, competence assessment and registration for building control professionals
• set up statutory committees required by the Building Safety Act 2022, the Residents’ Panel, Industry Competence Committee and Building Advisory Committee
• registered higher-risk buildings and begun to assess these buildings for building assessment certificates
• carried out technical reviews across a number of the Approved Documents (which form part of the statutory guidance covering building regulations), including work on the continuous review of fire safety guidance in Approved Document B
• initiated a review of building regulations guidance

We have also implemented the 3 statutory ‘gateways’ from the Building Safety Act 2022. These are:

• gateway 1, at planning
• gateway 2, before building work starts
• gateway 3, when building work is completed

These steps have laid the foundations of a more accountable and transparent building safety regime.

Alongside delivering these outcomes there have also been challenges. The Building Safety Act 2022 required a different approach to demonstrating compliance with building regulations for HRBs, from more detailed designs required earlier in the planning process, to new requirements and risks to consider once residents have moved into a new building.

The introduction of the regulated profession of building control required individuals and organisations to put considerable work into showing that they had the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours to oversee standards of buildings.

The scale of change required, in a short period of time, was unprecedented, and there have been many lessons learned, both for us, as a regulator, and for industry, on which we will continue to build. We are determined to be faster, clearer in our communications and guidance, to modernise and to be data driven. Safety is not a blocker to economic growth, and we will not compromise either over the next year and beyond.

As the building control authority for HRBs in England, there has rightly been significant focus on our oversight of the design, construction and occupation of HRBs. Under new leadership, we have made progress to improve our processes and refine our delivery model, in close collaboration with industry.

Over 2025 and into early 2026 we have become more efficient, having brought the multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs), who are needed to determine building control applications, in-house. We have combined regulatory expertise with industry knowledge to target guidance, education and consistency. This has also improved the quality of applications submitted.

We will challenge ourselves to continue improving as we are changing and adapting. We have become a new NDPB and are preparing to lay the foundations for a new single regulator for the construction industry.

The scope of our work

The Building Safety Regulator’s remit

BSR is responsible for keeping under review the safety and standards of all buildings in England, this includes the:

• safety of people in or about buildings in relation to risks as regards buildings
• standard of buildings

We also are responsible for facilitating the improving of the competency of:

• people who work in the designing, building, management, and maintenance of buildings
• registered building inspectors

BSR is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings, they are buildings that have at least:

• 7 storeys or are at least 18 metres high
• 2 or more residential units or are a hospital or care home

During design and construction, we are responsible for overseeing compliance with building regulation requirements. During occupation, we regulate those who are responsible for the management of building safety risks, which are the spread of fire and structural failure.

BSR oversees and monitors the performance of all building control bodies in England and the competence of professionals delivering building control functions.

We must also provide assistance and encouragement to facilitate the improvement of the competence of those working in the built environment, including those in building control. We are committed to doing this in a fair and proportionate way that supports innovation and economic growth with safety and standards as the highest priority.

Governance and assurance

As we establish ourselves as a new organisation, it is crucial that our governance arrangements are properly designed to provide clear accountability, effective oversight and transparent decision making.

The BSR board was established on 27 January 2026, chaired by Lord Andrew Roe. Acting Chief Executive, Charlie Pugsley, was also formally appointed on this date. BSR’s board will provide strategic leadership and hold the Chief Executive to account, ensuring that BSR is delivering on its priorities and managing resources and funding effectively.

We are working closely with our sponsor department to build up our governance, risk and assurance structures including developing an audit and risk assurance committee. Our existing statutory committees will also continue to offer expert advice and challenge. We are working at pace to make sure our governance structures are robust and transparent and provide assurance on performance and management across the whole of BSR.

Our priority work  

This section explains the priority areas of BSR’s work over the coming year from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. These priorities are not all we will do over this time but set out where our focus is as we improve, innovate, and build the foundation for a new single construction regulator.

Priority 1: Continuing to improve our operations and processes 

Becoming an NDPB means that we can develop our ways of working to better serve residents and industry, enabling the delivery of safe new homes. This will require that we keep on improving, as we have done since our new leadership team joined.

How we will improve operations and processes

BSR was originally set up at pace. This meant we did not have the time to fully reflect on how we were set up or invest the time in fully developing our processes and ways of working. We are now doing that thinking, reflecting, testing and then making changes. There are already areas where we have begun to improve user experience and find efficiencies. These include:

• hiring our own experts to form MDTs
• creating a new account manager role to support better engagement between applicants and MDTs
• creating a new Innovation Unit to review applications
• a pilot program of sending batches of applications to MDTs (under supervision) to improve efficiency
• introducing staged gateway 2 applications for all buildings

We expect that by the end of March 2027 we will take 18 weeks or less to respond to a gateway 2 application for a new building, in non-complex cases. In addition, by working with others, improving guidance, and supporting applicants we expect applications to have an approval rating of 65%.

There are other areas we are exploring where we believe we can reduce burdens on industry, improve our ways of working, and become more efficient without reducing standards or safety. We want to find areas where:

• automation could bring efficiencies
• new software could increase collaboration with residents and industry
• we can better collect and share data
• we can communicate clearer and provide better guidance
• new self-certification could reduce the number of applications submitted
• the requirements of the law are not proportionate and should therefore be reviewed

We are not just improving our previous ways of working but actively ensuring the success of new and future policies we are involved with. For example, the Building Safety Levy will come into effect in October 2026. To ensure its success, we are taking a proactive and structured approach, working closely with MHCLG to ensure delivery will be smooth and providing regular feedback from our perspective.

This priority will involve investment in our technology and in our people’s skills; this investment will be for an efficient and modern regulator providing the outstanding service the public expects and deserves.

What these improvements mean for residents

Improvements in our processes and BSR becoming more efficient means residents should experience fewer delays in repairs and maintenance in their buildings. This will mean a better experience for residents when they interact with us or need our building control services.

Priority 2: Remediation

BSR remediation activity is mostly focused on giving the building control approval for the removal of dangerous cladding. Remediation is essential to protect lives, build confidence in long-term safety and restore the value of affected properties. Any building with unsafe cladding is one too many, and we are committed to enabling the process of removing it.

How we will support remediation 

BSR is responsible for approving building control applications in HRBs and in-scope buildings before any remediation work can begin. We are committed to a fair and proportionate process that allows this critical work to be done in a timely manner, while making sure that the safety of residents in these buildings is protected.

To do this, we will: 

• work closely with MHCLG and Homes England, to support their Remediation Improvement Plan
• work directly with the mayoralties that have the greatest number of higher-risk buildings, offering them support and guidance as needed
• share and publish our data about remediation building control applications , and how long we are taking to process applications – this will allow organisations to be able to better prepare to meet surges in demand and understand the amount of work that needs to be completed
• review and develop our guidance and feedback on how to make a remediation application, to reduce the likelihood of errors and allow approvals to be processed quickly – newly-appointed account managers will also be available to support applicants

We are working with principal accountable persons (PAPs) to help them understand what they need to do to remediate buildings they are responsible for. By monitoring that a PAP has a plan to fix their building with unsafe cladding and manage risks until the cladding is removed, we are ensuring residents are safe and their homes will be fixed. If we discover a PAP is not taking reasonable steps to keep residents safe, or to remove the unsafe cladding, we will take action against that PAP.  

We expect that by the end of March 2027 we will take 12 weeks or less to respond to an application for remediation, in non-complex cases. In addition, by working with others, improving guidance, and supporting applicants we expect applications to have an approval rating of 65%.  

What remediation support means for residents 

Residents will find that building control approval will no longer be a blocker to fixing their homes. By publishing our remediation data publicly, residents will be able to see our overall progress, giving them greater clarity on timelines and giving them the information they need to hold us to account.

Priority 3: Building phase and gateway 3

During the building phase, BSR inspects sites to check that standards are being met. Plans change and the reality of construction means that the final building may be different to the plans previously approved. This is why, once a building is completed, it must then pass gateway 3 before the building can be occupied. This check is vital to ensure that the building is as safe as it was designed to be.

How we will ensure buildings are safe to live in 

As gateway 2 applications progress, BSR will need to conduct an increasing number of in-build site inspections, against a backdrop of a growing demand as we support the drive for 1.5 million high quality new homes. These inspections help us support industry to properly evidence the changes and adaptations they make to approved plans during the building phase. This will also help later when they make their gateway 3 application.

These inspections will be done by registered building inspectors (RBIs), of which there is a national shortage. We are exploring ways to support industry in attracting and retaining talent into this exciting and interesting career. Alongside this we are:

• reviewing our ways of working with RBIs
• considering how new technology or new ways of working can save time
• monitoring site visits to ensure they are proportionate  

Once a building is complete, a gateway 3 application must be submitted before residents can move in. We are clear that we do not want safe buildings to be empty because of administrative delays we cause. We are expecting an increase in gateway 3 applications and having learned the lessons from gateway 2 we are working to:

• ensure we have the experts internally to review completed buildings
• provide updates to help building owners plan and keep future residents informed
• publish comprehensive guidance on making an application

If we must refuse a completion certificate at gateway 3, we will provide clear information so that the necessary modifications are understood and can be completed in a timely manner.

What gateway 3 improvements mean for residents

In-build site visits can bring reassurance to residents that their home was built to standard. Our plan for gateway 3 applications means residents will find they are better informed about the timeline for when they will be able to move into a newly completed building. They should not experience long delays in waiting for their new home.

Priority 4: Keeping the safety of people and the standard of buildings under review

An important part of our work is ensuring the safety of people in and about buildings. Part of our review into the standard of buildings is about making sure that the technical standards and guidance we provide are up to date so that we understand and manage risks in the built environment now and in the future.

How we will keep people safe

To keep people safe, we need to understand the risks and continually improve how we assess risk. An important part of our work over the coming year will be:

• collaborating with MHCLG, local authorities, rescue services, and industry
• agreeing with government the best way to respond to significant risks and who is responsible for them
• investing in software to monitor risks

We will also improve how we identify and deal with future risks. We currently do this by gathering intelligence, such as from the voluntary and mandatory occurrence reports sent to us, alongside reports and research others are doing.

These risks might emerge from new building techniques and technologies, or from existing types of buildings that are reaching the end of their design life. They could also come from our changing global climate or changes to the local infrastructure. There may also be changes to buildings made that might have unintended consequences.

Where a risk is found we will provide proportionate guidance and recommendations, keeping residents informed and helping developers, constructors and building owners to make good choices.

One way we will support industry will be to use the information we gather to update Approved Documents. Approved Documents provide practical guidance on ways to meet the requirements of the building regulations. We plan to review these documents, updating them to keep up with regulatory changes, innovations, or new information.

As well as reviewing the technical standards in these documents, we are also undertaking a fundamental review of guidance to the building regulations. We are looking at how best to provide guidance that is clear, accessible and kept up to date.

What risk monitoring and Approved Document changes mean for residents 

BSR is monitoring the safety of people in and around buildings. As we raise awareness of current and potential future risks, residents will be made to feel safer in their homes. The information we share with government, industry, and residents will enable better decision making in the building, managing and maintaining of buildings.

Clearer, more up-to-date Approved Documents will support the industry in meeting better outcomes for buildings. Residents will be more confident in the safety and standard of new buildings, and where work is carried out in existing buildings.

Priority 5: Improving professional standards across industry

Safe buildings of a high quality must be supported by high professional standards and a thriving industry. To ensure this we will continue to build on our work to professionalise and uphold standards, such as the introduction of the RBI register in 2024.

How we will improve professional standards 

Over the next year we plan on improving guidance for industry and reducing unnecessary burdens. To do this we will:

• review the conditions of authorisation for competent person schemes to improve performance and find ways to reduce bureaucracy and fragmentation in the current system
• review and improve our existing guidance and materials that help organisations improve the skills, knowledge, experience, behaviours and competence of those who work on buildings and do building work
• improve RBI standards and the organisations that they work for, exploring how we can help grow the profession, while retaining the valuable expertise of existing inspectors in the system

Part of our work with industry will also be continuing the cultural change in the built environment that is already underway, building on the work we have already begun. We will: 

• publish a framework that shows how cultural change can be driven within organisations
• engage with those who procure on behalf of the public sector, to raise their standards to encourage those who design, build and operate buildings to comply with, or go above and beyond the law

What professional standards improvements will mean for residents 

A more competent industry will mean residents will receive a better service in the building and maintaining of their homes. If they wish, residents will be able to compare the services they receive against our guidance, to provide them assurance on the quality of work they are receiving. Residents can search our registers to check if an RBI is qualified for the work they are doing.

Preparing for the future

We are committed to setting out our vision for the future and publishing a 3-year strategic plan in 2027. As we look forward to 2030, our focus will be on: 

• building on the successes from our 2026 to 2027 strategy
• increasing our own knowledge, skills, and capability
• developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for monitoring our performance
• preparing to support the establishment of a single construction regulator
• supporting government to help build 1.5 million high quality and safe new homes
• being the catalyst for cultural change where we all value safety and high standards
• strengthening our partnerships across government, local authorities, industry and residents

Over the next year we will reflect further on our past and current performance, so can develop our 2027 to 2030 strategy in a thoughtful and evidence-based way. We will engage closely with residents, industry, and our statutory panels, inviting insight and challenge so we understand what we will need to do better, do differently, or add. Our aim is that our strategy will be based on the real-world experience people have with BSR and where we can target our regulatory effort most efficiently.

KPI development will allow us to review our performance, understand our impact and use evidence to improve our functions. We are carefully considering what our KPIs should be and will include more information on this in our 2027-2030 strategic plan.

Alongside this, our future strategy will be based on the horizon scanning we do. We will look ahead to understand the future challenges and opportunities facing the sector, including shifts in skills needs, technological developments, and emerging risks to safety.

Our 2027 to 2030 strategy will be realistic, resilient, and aligned with the needs of the public and industry.