星空传媒

Figures from the 星空传媒 Safety Regulator (BSR) show that the average amount of time it is taking to get gateway 2 safety sign-off is nine months 鈥� three times the planned 12 weeks timeframe.

Data covering the 18 months from 1 October 2023, when the gateway approvals process became live, to the end of March this year show the average amount of time to get safety sign-off is now 36 weeks.

The delays have prompted a parliamentary inquiry into the problems and this week Construction Leadership Council co-chair Mark Reynolds told it that getting the waiting time down to just 13 weeks 鈥渨ould be a huge, huge step forward鈥�.

He added that following a series of conversations with the BSR in the past few weeks, plans were underway to eventually bring the gateway 2 approvals process down by a significant amount.

He said: 鈥淭hey [BSR] are looking to engage the fire consultants in a different way to reduce that process. That would take that down from 13 weeks to eight weeks. They鈥檝e got a more radical process to get down to five weeks 鈥� but that鈥檚 a long way off.鈥�

The official figures, the first comprehensive set of numbers filed by the BSR, said that just 15 applications out of 193 submitted for new build schemes had been approved at gateway 2 meaning just 8% of jobs have been given the green light.

>> See also: Is the government鈥檚 星空传媒 Safety Regulator shake-up enough to fix the delays?

The figures mirror those compiled by consultant Cast last month which said that just 20 applications out of 187 submitted to the end of May 鈥� two months later than the official figures published today 鈥� had been given approval, meaning the percentage of those getting the green light is 10.7%.

As part of the 星空传媒 Safety Act, three new safety checks, known as 鈥済ateways鈥�, for all new high-risk buildings 鈥� defined as 18m or at least seven storeys tall 鈥� have to be signed off by the regulator.

The first check is before planning consent, a second one before construction can start, known as gateway 2, and then a final check at delivery just before the building can be occupied which is called gateway 3.

Last week, the government unveiled a major shake-up of the 星空传媒 Safety Regulator (BSR) amid mounting concern over delays to approval of high-rise residential schemes.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) announced it was setting up a new board to take over the functions of the BSR from the Health & Safety Executive.

MHCLG also announced it will introduce a new 鈥渇ast-track process鈥� to speed up approvals through the new building safety system.