The new Building Safety Bill

Nine years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, fire safety and cladding remediation remain a priority for the construction and property sectors.

On 14 October 2026, the government published the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill, which aims to speed up the remediation of residential buildings with unsafe cladding. It builds on the regime created by the Building Safety Act 2022.

We set out the key points below.

A new legal duty to remediate

The Bill introduces a duty for ‘responsible entities’ to assess, mitigate and remediate life-critical external wall fire safety risks. The duty applies to multi-occupied residential buildings in England that are over 11 metres or at least five storeys high, and which were completed before 28 June 2022.

Responsible entities include freeholders, certain leaseholders, right-to-manage companies and resident management companies.

The key deadlines are:

• Assessment: buildings must be assessed within 12 months of Royal Assent, using the PAS 9980 methodology
• Remediation Compliance Plan: where works are needed, a plan must be published and shared with residents within 15 months of Royal Assent
• Remediation: permanent works must be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable, with interim measures put in place where necessary.

Significant penalties

Deliberately failing to mitigate or remediate without reasonable excuse could lead to up to two years’ imprisonment or a penalty of up to £500,000. Penalties can be enforced against parent companies.

Directors may also be prosecuted where the failure results from their consent, connivance or neglect. A new obstruction offence, for example refusing access, carries fines of up to £40,000 for individuals and up to 5% of worldwide revenue for companies.

A ‘remediation backstop’

If a responsible entity does not act, Homes England or local authorities will be able to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for remediation management orders. These will allow the authority to carry out the works itself and recover the costs from the duty holder.

Easier claims against manufacturers

The Bill would also amend section 149 of the Building Safety Act 2022, making it easier to recover remediation costs from product manufacturers. Under the proposed changes:

• Developers and contractors who have funded remediation could bring claims directly, even if they hold no legal interest in the building
• ‘Defective’ would be replaced with ‘inherently unsafe’, and ‘misleading statement’ with ‘misleading conduct’
• A claimant would only need to show that a product ‘contributed more than trivially’ to the building being unsafe
• Courts could order manufacturers to disclose product information.

The section 149 changes would apply across the UK. The Bill also confirms that no Limitation Act time limits apply to Remediation Orders, Remediation Contribution Orders or Building Liability Orders.

Other measures

The Bill would also create a register of medium-rise buildings. It would introduce a duty on regulators to cooperate and new powers to identify the beneficial owners of residential blocks.

Next steps

The Bill is likely to be amended as it passes through parliament. Building owners and managers in England should start preparing for the new assessment and remediation duties now.

Contractors and developers will welcome the new recovery routes, but the government has warned that section 149 claims should not be used as a reason to delay remediation.

HCR Law will continue to monitor the Bill’s progress.