The new Building Safety Act (BSA) building control regime came into full effect in April 2024 and the industry is now starting to understand the practicalities of the new Gateway approval system for high-risk buildings¹ (HRBs). In particular, we are increasingly hearing reports of a delay of applications at Gateway 2 and a lack of clarity regarding the level and type of information that is required. 

In this blog, we will explore some of the requirements for Gateway 2 applications, and how construction product manufacturers— especially those that produce life safety-critical solutions such as passive fire protection— can and should be supporting project teams in preparing high quality assessments that can help demonstrate proposed designs meet safety requirements and help projects to progress.  

Introduced on 1^st October 2023, Gateway 2 is an important ‘hold point’ in the new building control regime for HRBs between the design and construction phases. It requires a full application to be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)— which, under the BSA 2022, is named as part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)— outlining how compliance with the functional requirements of the building regulations is going to be met. This includes the provision of additional information on competence, fire safety, control measures and mandatory reporting. This application is reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team under the BSR, including a registered Building Inspector and other specialists. Each Gateway is a ‘hard stop’ and work cannot legally begin onsite until approval is granted. 

In its overview of the regime, the HSE states that the purpose of this rigorous process is to provide assurance that: 

• potential design challenges are addressed early and not ‘baked in’; 

• the design is sufficiently developed to allow confidence in progressing all parts of the build; and, 

• the duty holders have the necessary capacity to realise the design.  

As well as the current information already required for Building Control, Gateway 2 applications must contain certain ‘prescribed documents’. These include: 

• A competence declaration - confirming that the principal designer, principal contractor and any other stakeholders have the relevant skills and knowledge to complete their work. 

• A Building Regulations compliance statement - outlining how Building Regulations requirements will be achieved. 

• A fire and emergency file – explaining how building safety risks will be managed post-completion, including the assumptions used. 

• A construction control plan - explaining how the construction process will be managed to ensure compliance with the regulations. 

• A change control plan – defining the change control processes to be used during construction. 

• A mandatory occurrence reporting plan - outlining how issues that are discovered during the design and construction phases will be monitored and reported. 

• A partial completion strategy – explaining how part of a project can be occupied before completed. This only applies when the building is to be delivered in phases².   

   

Whilst the purpose of these documents is relatively clear, there have been reported issues with the quality and level of detail being used to support them. As Regulation 7(1)(b) of The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 states, schemes may be rejected if an application ”is not sufficiently detailed in any respect to allow the regulator to determine whether the HRB work or the stage of HRB work would contravene any applicable requirement of the building regulations”.  

Interviews with HSE Operational Policy Leads in Construction News back in April revealed that, in their opinion, more than half of Gateway 2 applications submitted “lacked the correct documentation” and detail to demonstrate that they meet the functional requirements of the building regulations and that the project teams “understand the work they are doing.” Whilst there is some debate as to whether the BSR needs to provide more clarity on what it is looking for, the fact remains that in some cases even the basic information was not being supplied and these projects must go through amendments and resubmission— further delaying delivery.  

As experts in their products and their application, manufacturers are now being seen as specialists within the early design stages. At Siderise, we are seeing an increasing number of enquiries asking us to support designers in providing or preparing key details at this crucial stage.  

1. Robust product information 

At the basic level, all construction product manufacturers should be providing clear, comprehensive and verified product information to help designers make informed and justifiable decisions. Product data should also be easily accessible, available to both download from manufacturer’s website, or via industry platforms such as bimstore and NBS Source, allowing designers to embed this information into their designs from the very beginning.  

Any performance claims should be backed up by thorough testing carried out to the standards stipulated by the applicable building regulations - as a minimum.  Wherever possible, these test results should be verified by accredited third-party certification bodies. This is absolutely crucial for passive fire protection, whose accurate specification is essential for protecting both lives and property. You can learn more about Siderise’s commitment to third-party testing and testing to standards that  

give a more accurate indication of in-application performance here.   

2. Technical design support 

However, we believe that as a fire safety solutions manufacturer, we have a responsibility to Go Beyond this. We are committed to sharing our expertise and experience to ensure specifications are not only compliant with the relevant regulations, but that they are applied properly to ensure the building will perform as intended. Our comprehensive technical services can help project teams to prepare detailed passive fire safety strategies, with clearly defined approaches and supportive data. These include everything from design feedback and project-specific product suitability advice to technical detail drawing reviews, standard details and specification writing as an NBS Chorus Specification Writing Partner. We can also conduct project-specific product level testing and facilitate bespoke fire testing at our UKAS-accredited Innovation Centre, or via one of our testing centre partners.  

Learn more about out technical services.   

3. The Golden Thread 

Early involvement from manufacturers of safety critical products can help to build up a bank of information that can be incorporated in or used to contribute to the Golden Thread. At Siderise, we can give you a digital report of your recorded interactions with us throughout design and construction, including everything from test data to a history of technical communications and training. This can be added to in later stages of construction, such as when product installation inspections have taken place. 

For any kind of manufacturer to be a valid resource during the pre-construction phase, it is vital that the industry feels confident in its skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours. This is why Siderise has made a clear commitment to industry engagement and staff upskilling as appropriate to their roles and level of customer interaction. We have assessed all job roles using a SKEB matrix (Skills, Knowledge, Experience and Behaviour) and our customer-facing employees undergo formalised training to ensure sufficient product knowledge, with ongoing upskilling for technical staff and professional qualifications provided by the Institution of Fire Engineers.

This ensures that design or product suitability advice is backed by clear product data and has been delivered by someone competent enough to interpret the project needs and requirements, understand any potential parameters or limitations, and identify the right solutions to enable compliance.