The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill
October 2026On 14 October 2026, the Government published the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill (the “Remediation Bill”).
The Remediation Bill, which was foreshadowed in the King’s Speech earlier this year (see our earlier article here) is a key component of the Government’s Remediation Acceleration Plan, which aims to identify all buildings with unsafe cladding, provide faster and more effective routes to remediation, improve accountability and transparency of building owners, developers and product manufacturers and strengthen enforcement and regulatory powers.
We touch on some of the key provisions and implications below.
New Legal Duties
The Remediation Bill introduces three new legal duties on responsible entities (the person/entity with a legal obligation to repair external walls) in respect of relevant buildings (broadly, multi-occupied buildings over eleven metres in height or with at least five storeys):
- The Duty to Assess: Responsible entities must carry out an assessment of risks in relation to the external walls of relevant buildings. This includes an obligation to obtain a compliant fire risk appraisal of external walls (FRAEW), which later regulations will set out must be carried out to in accordance with the PAS 9980 methodology. FRAEWs recommending remediation mitigation measures must be submitted to Homes England for audit.
- The Duty to Mitigate: Where FRAEWs identify interim safety measures, responsible entities must implement these as soon as reasonably practicable. These can include new evacuation strategies, waking watch and/or interim alarms. These measures are temporary and as such do not constitute compliance.
- The Duty to Remediate: Where remediation is required, responsible entities must prepare and disseminate a Remediation Compliance Plan, which sets out a remediation timetable, explains the works, identifies responsible individuals, and discloses beneficial ownership and group structures. Reliance on any form of temporary arrangements does not amount to compliance. The duty does not apply where the external walls have been, or are required to be, remediated under a Developer Remediation Contract because equivalent obligations already exist.
These duties will be audited by Homes England, and enforced by local authorities, fire and rescue authorities and the Building Safety Regulator. The Remediation Bill creates a range of criminal and civil enforcement mechanisms, including offences punishable by imprisonment of up to two years and financial penalties of up to £500,000 in specified circumstances.
A new, separate, offence of obstruction of remediation is also to be created, whereby actions which obstruct or frustrate the effective implementation of remediation can result in fines of up to £40,000 for individuals or 5% of qualifying worldwide revenue for undertakings. Directors may also be prosecuted where the breach occurs with their consent or neglect.
Remediation Management Orders (RMO)
The concept of RMOs have been created to empower local authorities and Homes England to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to take over remediation, enter contracts, access buildings or recover costs incurred from responsible entities, in circumstances where such responsible entities have failed to remediate fire safety risks despite enforcement action against them. This is labelled as a remediation backstop, ensuring buildings can be remediated even when responsible entities will not cooperate.
As noted above, it will be an offence to obstruct a remediation authority from carrying out remediation under an RMO.
Medium-Rise Building Register
A compulsory register will be created for occupied residential buildings between 11 and 18 metres in height, five or six storeys and with two or more residential units. This is aimed at identifying unsafe buildings and enforcing their remediation.
The registration duty holder will be the entity who has a legal estate in possession of/is under a repairing obligation in respect of, the common parts. They must ensure the building is registered at all times that it is occupied. If they fail to register, or fail to update required information, the duty holder can face civil penalties. Ongoing non-compliance and/or deliberate provision of false or misleading information will be subject to criminal offences.
Identifying Beneficial Owners
Relevant authorities will be given the power to require information about who owns a relevant residential building by issuing a “building ownership information notice” to the person they reasonably believe holds, or can obtain, that information. The intention is to make it easier for enforcing authorities to identify who is responsible for addressing safety issues and holding them to account if duties are not fulfilled.
Failure to comply with a building ownership information notice without reasonable excuse, or knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information in response, will be an offence.
Regulator Accountability and Co-operation
The Remediation Bill also imposes cooperation duties on local authorities, fire and rescue authorities and the Building Safety Regulator. They are required to share information, enter into partnership arrangements, publish Regulatory Cooperation Statements and have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State, with the aim of ensuring a coordinated and consistent approach to identifying, monitoring and enforcing remediation of unsafe buildings and preventing cases from falling between regulatory regimes.
Product Manufacturers and Section 149 of the Building Safety Act 2022
The Remediation Bill seeks to amend section 149 of Building Safety Act 2022 to assist in holding product manufacturers and suppliers are held to account in civil proceedings.
The Government has acknowledged that the original wording of section 149 made it overly difficult for claims to be made, as it allowed manufactures/suppliers to avoid liability on technical grounds, even where the products themselves contributed to non-compliance and/or unsafe buildings.
The amendments are therefore intended to make claims more straightforward, with liability being based on whether a product was (factually) unsafe and/or whether there was misleading conduct, provided that the product made a more than trivial contribution to a building being unsafe. The Remediation Bill also extends the ability to make claims under section 149 to developers, and other remediation parties, in addition to freeholders and leaseholders (who were previously the only potential claimants under the original wording of section 149).
In addition, the courts will be empowered to compel disclosure of product information and Building Liability Orders may be brought against associated companies.
Other Amendments
The Remediation Bill will clarify that no limitation period under the Limitation Act 1980 applies to applications for Remediation Orders, Remediation Contribution Orders or Building Liability Orders. This is aimed at ensuring interested parties maintain access to the protections introduced under the building safety regime.
Comment
The Remediation Bill is a significant intervention in the building safety landscape, indicating that the Government is frustrated at the pace of remediation.
The creation of positive duties to assess, mitigate, and remediate (backed by civil and criminal penalties) are important developments in ensuring buildings are appropriately remediated in good time, and will be welcomed across the industry. In addition, the changes to section 149 of the Building Safety Act 2022 should not be overlooked, as they indicate a clear policy push and desire from Government to hold manufacturers and suppliers accountable for past conduct.
The Remediation Bill is likely to have significant implications for the construction industry and insurers. The introduction of new statutory duties, expanded liability regimes and enhanced regulatory powers may lead to increased scrutiny of risk management processes, project records and decision making.
Beale & Co are well-versed in advising clients on issues relating to building safety; if you require any assistance, whether in relation to the points discussed above or building safety matters more generally, please contact the authors, or your usual Beale & Co contact.
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