Higher-risk buildings: when roof work needs BSR approval
Updated 23 October 2026 · SEO Dons Editorial
Check your re-roof against the rules ↓
Is the building a higher-risk building?
Three tests apply together: what the building is used for, how the Regulations define a “building”, and height or storeys. For building work, GOV.UK guidance defines a higher-risk building as a building with at least two residential units, or a care home or hospital, that is at least 18 metres high or has at least 7 storeys. Section 120D of the Building Act 1984 sets the height and storeys threshold, and regulation 2 of the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023 (the Descriptions Regulations) names the three descriptions. A hospital must have at least one bed intended for an overnight stay, so GOV.UK says a GP surgery without overnight beds is not one.
| Building | Higher-risk for building work? |
|---|---|
| Warehouse, factory or office block with no homes, care home or hospital in it | No. It fits none of the three descriptions, whatever its height. |
| Shops or offices below two or more flats, at least 7 storeys or 18 metres | Yes. GOV.UK gives a shopping centre with two or more residential units as an example. |
| Care home at least 7 storeys or 18 metres | Yes. A care home is one of the three descriptions. |
| Block of 6 storeys and 17 metres with flats | No. Neither threshold is met, whatever the use. |
| Building used entirely as a hotel | Excluded. |
A separate definition applies to occupied buildings: at least two residential units and the same height or storeys test, according to GOV.UK. The two do not amend each other, so a managing agent should not assume they match.
How does the roof affect the height and storey count?
Regulation 5 of the Descriptions Regulations measures height from ground level to the top of the floor surface of the top storey, so the roof covering and parapet are not part of the measurement. Regulation 6 ignores storeys that are roof-top plant. GOV.UK guidance adds that a storey must be fully enclosed, the roof of a building is not a storey, and open rooftops such as rooftop gardens are not storeys. Only rooftop plant rooms are excluded: a plant floor lower down still counts.
One caution. A notice on the guidance, updated on 28 May 2025, refers to a First-tier Tribunal decision dated 3 July 2024 on roof gardens being considered a storey. The department says its view remains that roof gardens are not storeys and that it is consulting on amending the Regulations. Where a roof terrace takes a building to the threshold, confirm the current position with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
When does roof work on a higher-risk building need BSR approval?
In England the regulator is the building control authority for any higher-risk building. GOV.UK says the client must make sure approval is granted before any building work starts, and that carrying out building work without the required approval is a criminal offence. The client can nominate someone else to apply, but the legal responsibility stays with the client. For an existing building the approval requirement does not apply to work that consists only of scheme work, exempt work or emergency repairs (regulation 11 of the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, the Procedures Regulations).
The first gate is whether the roof job is building work at all. The Building Regulations 2010 define it by a list that includes material alteration and “work required by regulation 23”. That regulation applies where the renovation of a thermal element amounts to the renovation of more than 50% of its surface area, so a large re-cover can be building work while a small repair may not be. The building control routes guide explains regulation 23 in full.
Which exemptions can a roof replacement use?
This is the point GOV.UK leaves open. Its exempt-work list covers “most repairs, replacements and maintenance work” with stated exceptions, and names insulation in roof spaces. It does not mention roof coverings. The statutory list in Schedule 2 to the Procedures Regulations is more specific: it includes replacing a rainwater gutter or downpipe and installing thermal insulation in a roof space where that is the only work and is not done to meet the 2010 Regulations. It does not list a roof covering either. Neither list settles a flat roof re-cover by itself.
| Route | What the sources say | For a roof covering |
|---|---|---|
| Exempt work | Schedule 2 lists specific items, including gutters, downpipes and roof-space insulation | No roof covering item in the list |
| Competent person scheme work | Schedule 3 to the 2010 Regulations covers installing, as a replacement, the covering of a pitched or flat roof, by a person registered with NAPIT or the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, but not solar panels | Possible if the contractor is registered and the scheme covers higher-risk buildings; GOV.UK says to ask the scheme provider |
| Emergency repair | Repairs needed as a matter of urgency due to the risk to health, safety or welfare of people in or about the building | Only for a genuine urgent risk |
| None of these | BSR approval before work starts | The client applies |
Scheme work covers only the types of work listed in Schedule 3, and the approval exemption applies only where the work consists solely of scheme work, exempt work or emergency repairs, so a project that adds anything else, such as strengthening, needs an application. Exempt or scheme work that forms part of a wider building project must be included in that project’s application. If the route is unclear, GOV.UK advises checking with a competent contractor or other building control professional.
What must the owner do on scheme work or an emergency repair?
On scheme work, regulation 20(1A) requires the client to make the person carrying out the work aware that the building is a higher-risk building. Where Part B of Schedule 1 (fire safety) imposes a requirement in relation to the work, regulation 39 requires the certifier to give fire safety information to the client and the responsible person, and the client must notify the regulator, confirming receipt, within 30 days of receiving the certifier’s notification. The BROOF(t4) guide covers roof covering fire classes.
On an emergency repair, regulation 10 requires notice to the regulator describing the work and the reasons for the urgency as soon as reasonably practicable after work starts. GOV.UK sets a date: by the end of the first working day after the repair work starts, followed by a regularisation certificate application as soon as possible. It warns that emergency repairs should not fix problems caused by a lack of foresight or planning, and that work failing the criteria is unauthorised. In an occupied high-rise residential building the principal accountable person must update the safety case report; with several accountable persons, that is the one responsible for repairing the structure and exterior.
What happens if approval is needed?
The work must not start until the application is approved. BSR sorts work on existing buildings into category A or B; category A includes work on the building’s common areas or parts, and applying under the wrong category risks rejection. Common parts include the structure and exterior of the building except demised premises, so ask BSR which category a roof job falls into. GOV.UK says that unless an extension is agreed BSR takes up to 8 weeks to assess an application for an existing higher-risk building, and approval lapses if the work has not reached commencement within 3 years. Allow for that before any contractor mobilises.
Whether a roof should be repaired or replaced is a separate decision, covered in the repair or replace guide. The Building Safety Act guide explains the dutyholder roles, and this page covers England only; the guide to rules across the UK covers the other nations.
If you want to talk a roof project through, you can send an enquiry through the form on this site.
Sources
- Building control approval for higher-risk buildings (last updated 1 October 2026), Building Safety Regulator, GOV.UK, checked 22 October 2026
- GOV.UK: criteria for an existing building during building work and criteria during the occupation phase (both last updated 28 May 2025), checked 22 October 2026
- legislation.gov.uk: Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023, regulations 2, 10, 11, 39 and 57 and Schedule 2; Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023, regulations 1, 2, 5 and 6; Building Act 1984, sections 120D and 91ZA; Building Regulations 2010, regulations 3, 20 and 23 and Schedule 3, checked 22 October 2026
Common questions
Does a warehouse or factory roof need BSR approval?
Only if the building is a higher-risk building, which needs at least two residential units, a care home or a hospital as well as the height or storeys threshold. A building with none of those is not covered, and GOV.UK says not to apply to BSR for non-higher-risk buildings.
Who applies for approval, the roofer or the owner?
The client. GOV.UK says the client can nominate someone else, but the legal responsibility remains with the client, so a managing agent acting for the owner should confirm in writing who is applying.
Does adding solar panels change the answer?
Do not assume it does not. The competent person scheme entry for replacing a roof covering states that it does not apply to the installation of solar panels, so ask BSR how panel work is treated.
Do these rules apply in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?
This route is for England: the Building Act 1984 makes the regulator the building control authority for higher-risk buildings in England. The other nations have their own systems, which the guide to re-roofing rules across the UK compares.
Related guides
Check your re-roof against the rules
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