Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026

1 Overview of Part E+W

(1) This section gives an overview of this Part.

(2) This Part makes provision in relation to the safety of buildings containing two or more residential units, which are referred to as “regulated buildings” and divided into 3 categories. It does so mainly by placing duties on the accountable persons, or the principal accountable person, for a regulated building.

(3) In this Part—

(a) some duties apply to all regulated buildings, some apply only to category 1 buildings and category 2 buildings, and others apply only to category 1 buildings;

(b) some duties apply only when a regulated building is “occupied” (meaning that there are residents of more than one residential unit in the building).

(4) Chapter 2 sets out the meanings of some key terms used in this Act. In particular, it makes provision about—

(a) the meaning of references to regulated buildings, residential units and the 3 categories of regulated building;

(b) how to identify an accountable person, and the principal accountable person, for a regulated building.

(5) Chapter 3 provides for the registration of category 1 buildings and category 2 buildings by building safety authorities.

(6) Chapter 4 provides for the assessment and management of safety risks in relation to occupied regulated buildings. It does so by—

(a) placing duties on principal accountable persons to assess fire safety risks, and on accountable persons to manage those risks, which apply to all regulated buildings;

(b) placing duties on accountable persons to assess and manage structural safety risks, which apply only to category 1 buildings and category 2 buildings.

(7) Chapter 5 provides for duties that apply only to occupied category 1 buildings and are imposed mainly on the principal accountable persons for those buildings. They include duties relating to the preparation of reports, the recording and reporting of building safety issues, and strategies for involving residents in building safety decisions.

(8) Chapter 6 enables the Welsh Ministers to make provision about strategies for involving residents of occupied category 2 buildings in building safety decisions.

(9) Chapter 7 provides for duties for accountable persons to keep and share information relating to regulated buildings, and for accountable persons and building safety authorities to deal with complaints relating to building safety issues. It imposes duties, or enables them to be imposed, in relation to all regulated buildings.

(10) Chapter 8 places duties relating to fire safety on adult residents and owners of residential units in occupied regulated buildings. It also‍ imposes corresponding duties relating to structural safety in category 1 buildings and category 2 buildings, and duties to repair damage to the fire resistance of residential units in all occupied regulated buildings. It provides for enforcement of the duties by accountable persons, and for access to residential units to enable compliance with this Part.

(11) Chapter 9 provides for certain decisions of a building safety authority to be subject to review by the authority and appeal to a residential property tribunal.

(12) Chapter 10 contains supplementary provisions, including provision requiring accountable persons to co-operate and co-ordinate with other persons, provision about the recovery of costs incurred or to be incurred in complying with this Part, and provision for terms relating to compliance with duties under this Act to be implied into certain leases.

(13) Further provision for the enforcement of duties under this Act can be found in Part 3.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 1 in force at 28.4.2026, see s. 138(1)(a)