Wales reforms building safety rules for design and construction
Published on 20th April 2026
New regulations taking effect in Wales from July introduce stricter duties at all stages of a building's construction
At a glance
Wales is introducing its own building safety framework, with two sets of new regulations taking effect on 1 July.
A dutyholder regime will apply to all buildings subject to building regulations in Wales, not just the tallest or highest-risk ones.
Higher-risk buildings face additional gateway and information requirements that differ in key respects from the equivalent English regime.
Wales is developing a distinct building safety regime in response to the Grenfell Tower disaster and the ensuing regulatory overhaul. Two sets of secondary regulations specifically addressing the design and construction phase have been made by the Senedd and are due to come into force on 1 July.
The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (Wales) Regulations 2025 and the Building etc. (Amendments) (No.2) (Wales) Regulations 2025, together with the Building Safety (Wales) Bill, form the foundation of this new building safety framework for Wales.
The July regulations address the design and construction phase, while the Building Safety (Wales) Bill primarily concerns the ongoing regulation of existing buildings and the upcoming changes to the in-occupation regulation of buildings in Wales. The bill was passed by the Welsh Senedd in March and is expected to come into force in phases from 2027.
Dutyholder accountability
One of the most significant changes is a dutyholder regime applying to all buildings in Wales subject to building regulations; not those classified as higher risk. It represents a fundamental shift in how responsibility for building safety is allocated and managed throughout the design and construction process and reflects what has been implemented in England.
The dutyholder framework places clear, defined obligations on members of the project team at every stage. The objective is to embed a culture of continual safety management from the outset, ensuring that those who design, build and manage buildings take active responsibility for safety outcomes throughout a project's life, rather than treating compliance as a box-ticking exercise at the end.
This approach draws on the lessons of Grenfell: that systemic failures in accountability across the supply chain contributed to the disaster and that meaningful reform requires duties to be clearly allocated and consistently enforced.
Higher-risk buildings
In Wales, a higher-risk building (HRB) is defined as one that is at least 18 metres in height, or at least seven storeys, and contains at least one residential unit or is a hospital, care home or children's home. HRBs are subject to additional, more exacting building safety requirements beyond the dutyholder regime.
Gateway 'hard stop'
The regulations introduce a gateway regime for HRBs: a structured series of checkpoints through which a project must pass before it can proceed to the next phase, covering planning, pre-construction and pre-occupation.
These are sometimes referred to as "hard stops" because each requires approval before work can stage. The regime is designed to ensure that safety is considered rigorously at every key decision point rather than being addressed retrospectively or only at completion. This prevents the kind of late-stage value engineering and safety compromises that contributed to the Grenfell disaster.
The 'golden thread'
A central concept within the HRB process is the "golden thread" of information. This requires that accurate, up-to-date information about a building, which covers its design, construction and any changes made over time, is created, maintained and passed on throughout the building's lifecycle.
The golden thread means that those responsible for a building at any given time have access to the information needed to manage it safely and that decisions made during design and construction are properly recorded and can be scrutinised, reducing the risk of critical safety information being lost or ignored.
Local authority oversight
A key feature of the Welsh approach is that the relevant local authority will act as the building control authority under the HRB regulations, rather than the Building Safety Regulator as in England. Wales's has opted to work through existing local authority structures rather than establish a new standalone regulator.
Transitional arrangements
Both sets of regulations are subject to transitional arrangements that turn on milestones such as the deposit of plans, the submission of initial notices or the commencement of works. For those with projects currently in planning or already under construction, it will be important to understand how the transitional provisions apply to works that straddle the commencement date.
The Welsh government promised detailed guidance on transitional arrangements was promised by the Welsh government ahead of the July implementation date, but it has not yet been published.
How Wales differs from England
Those familiar with the building safety regime for design and construction in England will recognise a number of familiar concepts in the Welsh framework.
The two regimes overlap significantly but they are not identical. Two of the key differences stand out. . First, unlike in England, where the HRB regime is overseen by the Building Safety Regulator, the building control authority for HRBs in Wales will be the relevant local authority. Second, The Welsh HRB definition differs from its English counterpart. In Wales, an HRB must be at least 18 metres in height or have at least seven storeys and also contain at least one residential unit (or is a hospital, care home or children's home). The HRB definition in England additionally requires two or more residential units.
Osborne Clarke comment
The new building safety framework in Wales represents a significant increase in the obligations for all those involved in the design and construction process of Welsh buildings. The HRB requirements are more onerous than for other buildings, but the dutyholder obligations apply to all Welsh assets that are subject to building regulations.
Developers, contractors and anyone involved in the design and construction of buildings in Wales will want to assess what is required of them at each stage of the process and to consider whether their contracts and information management systems are sufficiently robust.
We are closely tracking the implementation of the Welsh building safety regime and will continue to update clients as further guidance and detail around industry implementation and practice emerge. If you would like to discuss how these changes may affect your portfolio, please get in touch with one of our specialists.
