The Building Safety Act and commercial roof work
Updated 23 October 2026 · SEO Dons Editorial
Check your re-roof against the rules ↓
For an ordinary commercial roof, the Act reaches the project through the Building Regulations rather than through a rulebook of its own for roof coverings. This guide covers England; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.
What did the Building Safety Act change for roof work?
The Building Safety Act 2022 (28 April 2022) deals with the safety of people in or about buildings and the standard of buildings. Three of its effects reach a commercial re-roof.
- Dutyholders and competence. SI 2023/911 came into force on 1 October 2023 and inserted Part 2A into the Building Regulations 2010, setting duties for clients, designers, contractors and a principal designer and principal contractor.
- Building control. Approved inspectors have gone: section 49 of the Building Act 1984 was omitted from 6 April 2024, and private building control businesses must now register with the Building Safety Regulator. The building control routes guide compares the options.
- Enforcement. Contravening the Building Regulations is an offence, carrying on conviction on indictment up to two years in prison or a fine, or both. The time limit for a council to require non-compliant work to be removed or altered was lengthened from 12 months to 10 years.
When do the Part 2A duties apply to a roof?
They apply to building work as the Regulations define it. Work required by regulation 23, which covers renovating a thermal element, is building work, so a re-roof that triggers regulation 23 on a heated building brings Part 2A into play. A client is excused only where the work consists solely of the minor work listed in Schedule 4, whose only roof item is installing thermal insulation in a roof space or loft space. Whether a given repair or overlay counts as building work is covered in the building control guide.
The duties attach to the “relevant requirements”, which include regulation 23 and Schedule 1, the technical requirements covering matters such as structure and fire safety. Transitional rules protected work already started or notified before the regime began, but for the dutyholder rules that protection ended on 6 April 2024 where work had not started by then. A roof project starting now is inside Part 2A.
What must the client do under Part 2A?
The client must make suitable arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the project, with enough time and resources, to ensure compliance. The arrangements must make sure the building work is carried out in accordance with the requirements, that designers and contractors cooperate, and that the work is reviewed periodically for higher-risk building work. The client must also give building information to every designer and contractor. In addition:
- Where more than one contractor is, or is reasonably foreseeable to be, working on the project, appoint a principal designer and principal contractor in writing before the construction phase begins.
- Before permitting anyone to do building or design work, take all reasonable steps to satisfy yourself that they are competent, with the extra tests for the two principal roles.
- If an appointment ends early, appoint a replacement as soon as reasonably practicable.
- If no appointment is made, the client carries that role’s duties until someone is appointed.
Where there is only one contractor, that contractor is treated as the principal contractor. A single designer takes the principal designer’s duties; several designers must agree in writing which of them is the lead designer. A written record of competence checks is mandatory for higher-risk building work only, but is sensible on any roof job.
What counts as competent?
An individual needs the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for the work, and a firm needs the organisational capability. The behaviours are defined: complying with the requirements, including refusing to carry out non-compliant building work, cooperating with others, and refusing work beyond their skills, knowledge or experience. The contractor checking guide covers registers and evidence, and the SSIP, CHAS and Constructionline guide explains the prequalification schemes.
How do the building-regulations roles differ from the CDM roles?
They share names but do different jobs. CDM 2015 is about health and safety; Part 2A is about compliance with the Building Regulations. Both can apply to one roof project.
| Point | CDM 2015 | Building Regulations Part 2A |
|---|---|---|
| Principal designer | Plans, manages and monitors the pre-construction phase and coordinates health and safety matters | Plans, manages and monitors the design work and coordinates it so the building work would comply |
| Principal contractor | Plans, manages, monitors and coordinates the construction phase; prepares the construction phase plan | Plans, manages and monitors the building work and coordinates it so it complies |
| Notification | F10 to HSE if the project is notifiable | No F10; dutyholders sign statements when the work is complete |
| Competence wording | Skills, knowledge and experience, plus organisational capability | Skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours, plus organisational capability |
The NFRC Competent Person Scheme says one person can hold both principal designer roles if fully competent in both. The Regulations also let the client certify in writing that the CDM appointee is treated as appointed to the building-regulations role, instead of making a second appointment. The CDM 2015 guide covers the CDM side.
What changes when the roof is finished?
Where the work needed a building notice or an application, the person carrying it out must notify the council within five days of completion. The client signs a statement that, to the best of its knowledge, the work complies with all applicable requirements. The principal contractor (or sole contractor) and the principal designer (or sole or lead designer) each sign a statement that they fulfilled their Part 2A duties, and if one cannot be included the notice must say why. The council then has eight weeks to give a completion certificate where it is satisfied. The completion certificate guide covers the paperwork.
Does the Act make a commercial roof a higher-risk building?
Not by itself. GOV.UK defines higher-risk buildings as those at least 7 storeys or 18 metres high that also contain two residential units, a hospital or a care home. A warehouse, factory or office building with none of those features is outside the definition. Building work on an existing higher-risk building needs Building Safety Regulator approval except in certain cases, which include work done under a competent person scheme and emergency repairs. A contractor must advise on whether work is higher-risk building work if asked. The higher-risk buildings guide goes further.
Where do Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland sit?
Part 2A is the English text. The same Regulations contain a separate Part 2B for Wales, and GOV.UK points to separate rules in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Read the guide to re-roofing rules across the UK before applying anything here to a building outside England.
What should a building owner do before the work starts?
- Ask building control, or the scheme the roofer belongs to, whether the work is building work and which route applies.
- Count the contractors. If more than one will be on site, name the principal designer and principal contractor in writing, or certify the CDM appointees in writing.
- Ask each firm how it shows competence for the roof system, and keep the answers with the contract.
- File the completion statements and certificate with the CDM health and safety file.
Whether the roof needs replacing at all is a separate question; the repair or replace guide sets out the signals.
Sources
- The Building Regulations 2010, regulations 2, 3, 11A to 11Q, 16, 17 and Schedule 4, legislation.gov.uk, checked 22 October 2026
- legislation.gov.uk: SI 2023/911 (regulations 1 and 22), Building Safety Act 2022 (introduction, section 39), Building Act 1984 (sections 35, 49) and CDM 2015 (regulations 8, 11), checked 22 October 2026
- Building regulations approval and Register your business as a building control approver, GOV.UK, checked 22 October 2026
- Principal Designers: What You Need to Know (21 April 2026), NFRC Competent Person Scheme, checked 22 October 2026
- Principal contractors: roles and responsibilities, HSE, checked 22 October 2026
Common questions
Does the Building Safety Act apply to my building?
The Act applies across the building sector, but its strictest controls, such as Building Safety Regulator approval, apply to higher-risk buildings. GOV.UK defines those as at least 7 storeys or 18 metres high with two residential units, a hospital or a care home. For most commercial roofs the practical effect is the Part 2A dutyholder regime in England.
Do I need a building-regulations principal designer for a patch repair?
Only if the repair is building work and more than one contractor is, or is reasonably foreseeable to be, working on it. A single contractor is treated as the principal contractor, and a single designer as the principal designer. A repair that is not building work is outside Part 2A.
Who checks that the dutyholders did their job?
At completion the client, principal contractor and principal designer each sign statements. The council gives a completion certificate only where it is satisfied, after taking all reasonable steps, that the relevant provisions have been complied with, and the certificate is evidence rather than conclusive proof.
Can one firm be principal designer under both CDM and the Building Regulations?
Yes, if it is fully competent in both roles, according to the NFRC Competent Person Scheme. The client can also certify in writing that the CDM appointee is treated as appointed under the Building Regulations.
Related guides
Check your re-roof against the rules
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