Threads / Grenfell fire building safety reforms / Design and construction of higher-risk buildings
Other Published 27 Mar 2025 Building Safety Regulator Health and Safety Executive ↗ View on GOV.UK

Design and construction of higher-risk buildings

What clients, principal designers and principal contractors must do to follow the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

▤ Verbatim text from source document

A higher-risk building is a building that has at least:

  • 7 storeys or is at least 18 metres high
  • 2 residential units or is a hospital or a care home

A higher-risk building with at least 2 residential units must be registered with BSR before people live there.

You can read guidance about the criteria that makes a building a higher-risk building.

Clients, principal designers and principal contractors have legal duties when a project involves a higher-risk building. These duties are covered in the guides on this page.