“The Breath of the Building Safety Act Upon Us” – JCT Povey Lecture 2022

“WE WILL never feel the breath of the Building Safety Act upon us” was a main point made by Gary Neal in a recent lecture about those that embrace compliance and competency as a culture change.

Gary Neal, head of fire at Skanska UK, delivered guidelines to those working in construction to ensure that building projects achieve the requirements of the Building Safety Act and desired cost and quality outcomes first time, in his JCT Povey Lecture, given on 10 November.

Building Safety Act Presentation

In his presentation, ‘Building Safety Act: practical steps to compliance in construction’, Gary explained the four main areas of focus of the Act:

• the changes to general building safety rules
• introduction of a new regime for higher risk buildings
• changes to the fire safety regime
• the extension of limitation periods

Gary Neal also described the role of the Building Safety Regulator and its function across three gateways concerned with the planning, design and construction, and occupancy phases.

Throughout, Gary highlighted the importance of competency at all levels; in making sure competent people with relevant experience are employed, that design is carried out correctly, that the correct and compliant products are selected and installed by competent teams, and that inspections are carried out based on data competently compiled and stored from the project’s inception.

He also stressed that compliance with the building regulations was not only compulsory but should be seen as a minimum requirement and that cutting corners on compliance not only risks a building’s safety but increases costs as a result of having to rectify poorly designed or installed works.

Culture and Behavioural Change

Above all, Gary reinforced the point that culture and behavioural change was at the centre of achieving long-term benefits:

“What this really comes down to is culture; fire safety and delivering excellence is the heart of […] everything we do.

“For those of us with this in mind, it is likely that we will never feel the breath of the Building Safety Act upon us, leaving those in our wake to suffer the long-term implications.”

Following his presentation, Gary joined a panel discussion and audience Q&A hosted by JCT chair, Karen Kirkham, and featuring Amanda Long, chief executive of Building a Safer Future.

Amanda reiterated Gary’s point about culture to stress that leadership and reinforcing building safety as a ‘business as usual’ culture through behavioural change, was something that the industry needed to embrace, as it is lagging behind other industries such as rail, oil and gas, and nuclear, in terms of managing its role as a ‘major hazard’ industry.

The presentation, panel discussion and Q&A, which recorded JCT’s highest registration and viewership for a Povey Lecture to date, is available here. It includes the presentation slides, links, and the Q&A that were not able to be covered during the live event.

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