Implementing the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026

This consultation document invites views on the Welsh Government’s proposals for regulations about the remediation of certain historical in-built building safety defects and the categorisation of buildings regulated by the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026. In particular, it proposes how regulation-making powers set out in that Act will be used to a) create a system for the making of remediation orders and remediation contribution orders by the residential property tribunal, b) limit the liability of leaseholders for the cost of remediation and related provisions, and c) provide a method for calculating the height and number of storeys of a regulated building. 

Submit your comments by 7 September 2026, in any of the following ways:

• complete our online form 
• download, complete our response form and email: buildingsafety@gov.wales

(please include the reference WG54492 in the subject of your email)

• download, complete our response form and post to:

Consultation: WG54492
Building Safety Reform Team
Housing and Regeneration Directorate
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Further information and related documents

Large print, Braille and alternative language versions of this document are available on request.

Contact details

For further information:

Building Safety Reform Team
Housing and Regeneration Directorate
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

Email: buildingsafety@gov.wales

This document is also available in Welsh: Gweithredu Deddf Diogelwch Adeiladau (Cymru) 2026 [HTML] | LLYW.CYMRU

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For further details about the information the Welsh Government holds and its use, or if you want to exercise your rights under the UK GDPR, please see contact details below:

Data Protection Officer:

Welsh Government
Cathays Park
CARDIFF
CF10 3NQ

e-mail: dataprotectionofficer@gov.wales

The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are: 

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire 
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113

Website: https://ico.org.uk/

1. Part 4 of the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 (‘the Act’) contains provisions related to the remediation of certain building safety defects. The provisions seek to provide a means of requiring such remediation to be undertaken and a means of ensuring that the cost of doing so is borne as fairly as possible. They aim to enable leaseholders to be protected from certain costs in respect of remediation work and the effects of in-built building safety defects.

2. The provisions do this by providing for regulations to be made:

• enabling the residential property tribunal to make orders in relation to the remediation of ’relevant defects’ and the costs associated with them.
• enabling limitations to be imposed on the costs that may be passed on to leaseholders, where that costs are associated with relevant defects and their remediation.
• enabling costs that cannot be recovered from leaseholders as a result of the regulations to be recovered from certain others.

3. For context, a ‘relevant defect’ means a defect that:

a) arises as a result of anything done or not done (including anything done or not done in the provision of professional services), or anything used or not used, in connection with ‘relevant works’, and

b) creates a building safety risk or significantly increases an existing building safety risk.

‘Relevant works’, for these purposes means any of the following:

a) works relating to the construction or conversion of the building, if the construction or conversion was completed between 28 June 1992 and 20 February 2026;

b) works undertaken or commissioned by or on behalf of a landlord or management company, if the works were completed between 28 June 1992 and 20 February 2026;

c) works undertaken after 20 February 2026 to remedy a relevant defect.

4. The Part 4 provisions of the of the Act were included with a view to enabling the application to Wales of legislative leaseholder protections and other remediation measures broadly equivalent to protections and measures that already apply in England. We are now consulting on our proposals for the regulations under Part 4.

5. The remediation provisions set out in Part 4 of the Act apply in relation to ‘relevant buildings’. These are category 1 and category 2 buildings, as defined in section 6 of the Act (namely, residential buildings at least 11 metres in height or with five storeys or more) with certain exceptions (see section 112 of the Act). We wish to provide certainty about what constitutes a category 1 and category 2 building, for the purpose of both the remediation provisions and for the regulatory system established by the Act more generally. We are therefore also consulting on our intentions for regulations that set out how the height and number of storeys of a regulated building is to be determined.

6. Using powers set out in the Act, we propose that the Welsh Ministers make regulations about the matters set out below. Part 1 deals with remediating building defects and leaseholder protections. Part 2 deals with measuring the height and determining the number of storeys of a regulated building.

7. In order to aid understanding regarding the potential detail of the proposals relating to remediating building defects and leaseholder protections, reference is made to similar existing provision in England. However, this should not be taken to mean that the exactly the same provision will be made by the Welsh Ministers, but rather provision which is broadly equivalent is being proposed.

8. The Welsh Ministers have a duty to make regulations that enable a ‘residential property tribunal’ to make a ‘remediation order’ on the application of an ‘interested person’, including further provision in respect to such orders.

A remediation order is an order requiring a ‘relevant landlord or management company’ to do one or both of the following by a specified time:

a) remedy specified relevant defects in a specified relevant building

b) take specified relevant steps in relation to a specified relevant defect in a specified relevant building

In these cases, the Act says that a ‘relevant landlord or management company’ is a person who:
a) is a landlord under a lease of the building or any part of it, or a party to such a lease otherwise than as landlord or tenant, and

b) is required, under the lease or by virtue of an enactment, to repair or maintain anything relating to the defect.

The Act says that a ‘relevant step’ is a step that is intended to:

a) prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire or collapse of the building (or any part of it) occurring as a result of a relevant defect

b) reduce the severity of any such incident, or

c) prevent or reduce harm to people in or about the building that could result from such an incident.

The power for a residential property tribunal to make a remediation order will provide a means of ensuring that vital remediation work and other steps are carried out, or carried out more quickly, where there is otherwise a risk that they will be unnecessarily delayed or might not happen at all.

9. A list of ‘interested persons’ who can apply for a remediation order is already set out in the Act, these being:

a) the building safety authority for the building

b) the fire safety authority for the building

c) a person with a legal or equitable interest in the building or any part of it

d) any other person specified or of a description specified in regulations made by the Welsh Ministers

We propose that the regulations add the Welsh Ministers to the list of “interested persons”.

The Welsh Ministers are already involved in the remediation of building defects through the Welsh Building Safety Programme. We think that there might be occasions where they may want to apply for a remediation order as part of that programme.

10. It is important that when they apply for a remediation order, the interested person includes critical details the residential property tribunal will need in every case to decide whether an order should be made and to whom it should apply.

We therefore propose that the regulations require an application for a remediation order to identify the relevant building, the relevant defects, the relevant landlord or management company and the reasons for the application. Furthermore, we propose that a copy of the application must be sent to the relevant landlord or management company.

This will help to ensure that the process of applying is clear for applicants, the content of the applications received is relatively consistent, and the relevant landlord or management company is aware of the application.

11. We want to ensure that when a remediation order is made, there is a mechanism for ensuring that it can be enforced in the event that the relevant landlord or management company does not comply with it.

We therefore propose that the content of a decision of a tribunal made under or in connection with a remediation order (other than one ordering the payment of a sum but including a direction requiring an ‘expert report’ to be produced) is enforceable with the permission of the county court in the same way as an order of that court.

12. To ensure that a residential property tribunal is able to make fully informed decisions about remediation orders based, where necessary, on expert opinion, we propose that an ‘expert report’ for the purposes of section 11 above means an expert report or survey relating to:

a) relevant defects, or potential relevant defects, in a relevant building;

b) relevant steps taken or that might be taken in relation to a relevant defect in a relevant building.

This would provide a clear basis for ensuring that the Tribunal can require that expert opinion is provided to it and that the requirement is enforceable.

13. It is essential that all those affected by the order are aware of it, especially those who are required to take action in relation to it.

We therefore propose that the regulations require copies of the remediation order to be sent to the relevant landlord or management company and the interested person who applied for the remediation order.

Remediation Contribution Orders

14. The Welsh Ministers are under a duty to make regulations to enable the residential property tribunal to make a ‘remediation contribution order’ on the application of an ‘interested person’.

The Act says a remediation contribution order is an order requiring a relevant body corporate or partnership to make payments to a specified person for the purpose of meeting costs incurred or to be incurred in remedying, or otherwise in connection with, relevant defects (or specified relevant defects) relating to a relevant building.

In these cases, the Act says a ‘relevant body corporate or partnership’ is a body corporate or partnership that is:

a) a landlord under a lease of the relevant building or any part of it

b) a person who was such a landlord at the beginning of 20 February 2026

c) a developer in relation to the relevant building or

d) a person associated with a person one of the above

15. The list of interested persons who can apply for a remediation contribution order set out in the Act is the same as that for remediation orders, but with the Welsh Ministers already included.

We propose to add to that list the manager named in a lease, a Residents’ Management Company and a Right to Manage company in relation to the relevant building, as these bodies will also have an interest in ensuring that costs arising from relevant defects are appropriately apportioned.

16. It is important that when they apply for a remediation contribution order, the interested person includes critical details the residential property tribunal will need in every case to decide whether an order should be made and to whom it should apply.

We therefore propose that the regulations require an application for a remediation contribution order to identify the relevant building, the relevant body corporate or partnership who should make payments, the person to whom payments would be made, and the reasons for the application. Furthermore, we propose that a copy of the application must be sent to the relevant body corporate or partnership.

This will help to ensure that the process of applying is clear for applicants, the content of the applications received is relatively consistent and the relevant body corporate or partnership is aware of the application.

17. Remediation contribution orders might be made in relation to things that have happened in the past, or to things that are expected to happen in the future. The nature of those things might vary significantly between cases. Providing the Tribunal with the flexibility to make an order to suit the circumstances of the case will be vital to ensuring its effectiveness.

We therefore propose that the Tribunal should have the option of requiring either that a specific amount is paid, or that the costs of doing a specific thing are met, or both.

We also propose that an order can either require the payment to be made at a specified time or following the occurrence of a specific event (such as the completion of a specified action).

18. We believe that the costs the payments required by remediation contribution orders can meet should be capable of including costs that arise as a consequence of a relevant defect not just the costs associated directly with the remediation of that defect. For example, where a relevant defect has resulted in the need to put in place special measures to keep people safe before it can be put right, we think those costs should be capable of being included in a remediation contribution order.

We therefore propose that the types of costs that remediation contribution orders should be capable of including should include the following:

a) costs incurred or to be incurred in taking relevant steps in relation to a relevant defect in the relevant building;

b) costs incurred or to be incurred in obtaining an expert report (see section 12 above) relating to the relevant building;

c) temporary accommodation costs incurred or to be incurred in connection with a decant from the relevant building (or from part of it) that took place or is to take place:

i. to avoid an imminent threat to life or of personal injury arising from a relevant defect in the building

ii. (in the case of a decant from a dwelling) because works relating to the building created or are expected to create circumstances in which those occupying the dwelling cannot reasonably be expected to live.

19. The Act provides that certain buildings are excluded from the general scope of Part 4 (see section 112 of the Act). Regulations can however bring such buildings back into scope for the purposes of remediation contribution orders.

We therefore propose that the buildings excluded by section 112 of the Act are relevant buildings for the purposes of remediation contribution orders but that the following may not be specified as a body corporate or partnership from whom payments are required:

a) a landlord under a lease of the relevant building or any part of it where that landlord is a company owned in part or in full by a majority of residential leaseholders of the building;

b) a person who was such a landlord on 20 February 2026; or

c) a commonhold association, within the meaning of section 34 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.

20. We are aware that that ownership of many relevant buildings, and the basis on which they have been developed, is often very complex, and we want remediation contribution order, and the person to whom they might apply, to be able to reflect this complexity.

We therefore propose that ‘associated persons’ for the purposes of section 14 above (bullet point d.) are:

a) where a person’s interest in a relevant building was held on trust on 20 February 2026, any partnership or body corporate which was a beneficiary of the trust at that time

b) a partnership associated with any person who was a partner in the partnership, other than a limited partner, at any time in the period of 5 years ending on 20 February 2026 (“the relevant period”).

c) a body corporate associated with any person who was a director of the body corporate at any time in the relevant period.

d) A body corporate associated with another body corporate if:

i. at any time in the relevant period a person was a director of both of them, or

ii. on 20 February 2026, one of them controlled (within the meaning set out in section 121 of the Building Safety Act 2022) the other or a third body corporate controlled both of them.

Remediation costs under qualifying leases etc

21. The Act enables the Welsh Ministers to make regulations in respect of remediation costs and service charges. We intend to make regulations that prohibit in some instances and limit in others, the service charges that can be levied on leaseholders for costs that arise because of relevant defects. In most cases, the proposed prohibitions and limitations will apply only in relation to qualifying leases. The Act defines a ‘qualifying lease’. In summary, a qualifying lease is one that was granted before 20 February 2026, is a long lease of a single dwelling in a relevant building, where the tenant under the lease is liable to pay a service charge and where the dwelling was either:

a) the tenant’s only or principal home,

b) the tenant did not own any other dwelling in the United Kingdom, or

c) the tenant owned no more than two dwellings in the United Kingdom apart from their interest under the lease

22. The meaning of ‘relevant defect’ and ‘relevant step’ are set out above. Below we refer to a ‘relevant measure’, by which we mean, a measure taken to remedy a relevant defect or a relevant step taken in relation to the relevant defect.

23. We do not believe that leaseholders should be expected to pay service charges in relation to relevant defects that are not their fault, when the landlord imposing those charges is responsible, including by association, for that defect.

We therefore propose that no service charge is payable in relation to any lease (qualifying or non-qualifying) in respect of a relevant measure relating to a relevant defect, if the landlord is ‘responsible’ for the relevant defect, or if the landlord is associated with a person responsible for it.

We propose that a person would be ‘responsible’ for a relevant defect if:

a) in the case of an initial defect, the person was, or was in a joint venture with, the developer or undertook or commissioned works relating to the defect;

b) in any other case, the person undertook or commissioned works relating to the defect.

A landlord would be associated with a person in the ways suggested in section 20.

24. Where a landlord under a qualifying lease has a net worth above a certain value we consider that certain service charges under qualifying leases should not be payable.

We propose that no service charge in relation to a relevant measure relating to a relevant defect is payable under a qualifying lease if the landlord under the lease (together with any person associated with them) had a net worth on 20 February 2026, which exceeded £2,000,000 multiplied by the number of relevant buildings for which they were the landlord under a lease.

We propose that this would not, however, include landlords who are registered providers of social housing or local authorities.

We propose that an associated person in this case would be a person who fell within bullet points a), b) and d)ii of section 20 above.

The means of calculating ‘net worth’ of a landlord (including a landlord group) would be set out in the regulations, but in summary, we propose provision equivalent to regulation 5 of the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022).

25. Where the value of a qualifying lease is below a certain amount, we do not believe it appropriate that a service charge in respect of a relevant measure in relation to a a relevant defect, should be payable.

We therefore propose that no service charge is payable in relation to such costs if the value of the qualifying lease on 20 February 2026 was less than £175,000.

The means of calculating the value of a qualifying lease would be set out in the regulations but in summary we propose this would be based on price paid for the leasehold interest of the dwelling at the most recent date of disposal, taking into account inflation since that date where the disposal was before 31 December 2024. We propose provision would also be included for calculating the value where the price paid on completion could not be identified. (See regulation 9 of the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022 for more detail on how this might work).

26. Given the very particular risk posed to building safety by unsafe cladding, we believe that service charge protections should apply to the removal or replacement of such cladding.

Therefore, we propose that no service charge is payable under a qualifying lease in respect of cladding remediation, which should be defined as “the removal or replacement of any part of a cladding system that forms the outer wall of an external wall system and is unsafe”.

27. We recognise that legal costs and the costs of professional services can also be significant in relation to relevant defects and do not think that leaseholders should be responsible for meeting those costs.

Therefore, we propose that no service charge is payable under a qualifying lease in respect of legal or other professional services relating to the liability (or potential liability) of any person incurred as a result of a relevant defect. We propose that “services” includes services provided in connection with obtaining legal advice, any proceedings before a court or tribunal, arbitration or mediation.

We intend, however, to provide an exemption in relation to services provided to Resident Management Companies or Right to Manage Companies in connection with an application, or possible application, for a remediation contribution order, as these companies would be incurring costs while acting in the interests of leaseholders and it would not be appropriate to deprive such companies of the means of recovering these costs from those in whose interest they are acting.

28. Where a service charge in respect of a relevant measure relating to any relevant defect remains payable under a qualifying lease, taking account of the restrictions proposed above, we think it appropriate that a permitted maximum payable is imposed so that there is a fairer and more proportionate distribution of cost liability between leaseholders and landlords.

We propose that in these cases the service charge is payable only if (and in so far as) the sum of the amount of the service charge, and the total amount of service charges relating to relevant defects which fell due in the five years prior to the regulations coming into force or any time after that date, does not exceed the following maxima:

a) £50,000, where the value of the qualifying lease on 20 February 2026 exceeded £1,000,000 but did not exceed £2,000,000

b) £100,000 where the value of the qualifying lease at the qualifying time exceeded £2,000,000

c) £10,000 in all other cases

29. Where the qualifying lease is a shared ownership lease and the tenant’s total share was less than 100% on 20 February 2026, we proposed that:

a) the value of the qualifying lease at that time is to be determined as if the tenant’s total share at that time was 100%;

b) the permitted maximum is the tenant’s total share (as at that time) of what would otherwise be the permitted maximum.

Furthermore, to ensure that the amount of service charge payable in respect of relevant defects at any one time is not unreasonable, we propose that the amount due in a twelve-month period does not exceed one tenth of the permitted maxima set out above.

30. Where the regulations mean service charges are no longer payable under a lease in relation to something (see sections 21 to 25), we propose that:

a) no costs incurred or to be incurred in respect of that thing

i. are to be regarded for the purposes of sections 18 to 30 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (service charges) and section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (service charge contributions to be held on trust) as relevant costs to be taken into account in determining the amount of a service charge payable under the lease, 

ii. are to be met from a relevant reserve fund;

b) any amount payable under the lease, or met from a relevant reserve fund, is limited accordingly (and any necessary adjustment must be made by repayment, reduction of subsequent charges or otherwise).

31. Where there are limitations on the service charges payable in relation to leases as a result of the proposed regulations, we do not consider it fair that additional costs could be placed on leaseholders that are not subject to those same protections, to offset the financial impact on a landlord.

We propose that in these cases, the service charge payable in relation to the ‘unprotected’ lease is the amount that would have been payable if none of the protections had been applied to the other leases.

Landlord’s Certificate

32. To understand whether they have a lease that qualifies for the purposes of the protections set out in the regulations and other matter relating to those protections, leaseholders will require information from the current landlord confirming matters such as the contribution condition set out in section 24 above, responsibility for a relevant defect, etc.

To ensure that this occurs in a consistent way, we propose the regulations require a landlord’s certificate to be given to the leaseholder and that provision in relation to such certificates is made about the following matters:

a) The circumstances in which a landlord must give a certificate to the leaseholder. These are expected to include:

i. when the current landlord makes a demand to a leaseholder for the payment of a remediation service charge;
 

ii. within four weeks of receipt of notification from the leaseholder that the leasehold interest is to be sold;

iii. within four weeks of becoming aware (either themselves or by notification from another person) of a relevant defect not covered by a previous landlord’s certificate;

iv. within four weeks of being requested to do so by the leaseholder.

v. within four weeks of becoming aware of a new leaseholder certificate (see section 33 below) which contains information that was not included in a previous landlord’s certificate.

b) The form in which a certificate must be given

c) The information to be included in the certificate

d) The evidence that should accompany the certificate

e) Where the current landlord is unable to provide information necessary for the completion of the certificate, a requirement to apply to other landlords requesting they provide the information

f) A requirement on other landlords to respond to a request for information from a current landlord

g) The consequences for failing to provide a landlord’s certificate to a leaseholder where required to do so. In such cases, we propose that the landlord is treated as being responsible for a relevant defect (and the provisions proposed in section 23 apply).

h) Other persons to whom and by when a copy of the certificate must be given, and the consequences of not doing so.

i) Applications to the Residential Property Tribunal for an order determining whether a landlord had failed to comply with the regulations and if so, a requirement that the relevant landlord to provide specified information or document to a specified person by a specified time.

Further detail on what the above matters might cover is included in regulation 6 of the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022 and Schedule 1 to those regulations.

Leaseholder certificate

33. To understand whether a lease is a qualifying lease and if restrictions/ qualifications apply in relation to the levying of service charges, a landlord will require certain information from the leaseholder about the lease and the leaseholder (including the status of the leaseholder on 20 February 2026).

To ensure that this occurs in a consistent way, we propose the regulations make provision for a leaseholder certificate to be provided by the leaseholder to the landlord. Specifically, we propose that the regulations make provision about the following matters:

a) What is meant by a leaseholder certificate

b) A requirement on landlords to send notices to leaseholders in connection with the certificates

c) The content of such notices

d) The circumstances in which and deadlines by which notices must be given

e) A requirement for landlords on receipt of a leaseholder certificate to provide copies to others i.e. any Residents’ Management Company, Right to Manage company or named manager – and for there to be consequences for not doing so i.e. that certain costs are not recoverable.

f) The date by which a leaseholder must respond

g) The evidence the leaseholder must provide

h) The information the certificate must contain and the form it is to take

i) The consequences of a failure to respond to a notice – specifically that a lease would be treated as if it is not a qualifying lease, and that assumptions may be made about the value of a lease or shared ownership agreements.

Further detail on what the above matters might cover is included in regulation 6 and regulation 7 of the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2022 and the Schedule to those regulations.

Connected replacement lease

34. Where a lease made after the 20 February 2026 replaces a lease that was a qualifying lease on 20 February, we believe that leases should benefit from the same protections as the qualifying lease.

We therefore propose that the regulations make provision for determining when a new lease is a connected replacement lease and allow for such leases to be treated as qualifying leases for the purposes of the regulations.

The provision would be equivalent to that set out in section 119A of the Building Safety Act 2022.

Recovery of amounts from other landlords

35. Where a landlord is unable to recover costs incurred by them in relation to the remediation of relevant defects, or relevant measures taken in relation to those defects, because of the protections set out in the regulations, we believe it fair that they have a means of recovering those costs from other landlords in certain circumstances. For example, this might be appropriate if there are other landlords who, on 20 February 2026, were responsible for the relevant defect, or who met the contribution condition (section 24) on that date.

We therefore propose that the regulations make provision enabling an amount that the regulations deem not recoverable from a leaseholder to be recoverable from a current or former landlord or superior landlord under the lease or a successor in title of such a person. This would include a right for other landlords to appeal to the Residential Property Tribunal against the recovery of these costs from them.

We proposed provision would be equivalent to regulations 3 to 5 of the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2022.

Meaning of relevant building: remediating building defects and leaseholder protection provisions

36. The Act makes provision excluding some buildings from the definition of ‘relevant building’. Additionally, the Welsh Ministers have the power to provide that a building is not a ‘relevant building’ if the freehold estate is leaseholder owned, within the meaning given by the regulations. Generally, we do not believe that the remediating building defects and leaseholder protection provisions proposed should apply to leaseholder owned buildings.

We therefore propose that a category 1 building or category 2 building is not a relevant building if the freehold estate in the building is leaseholder owed. For these purposes, we propose that the definition of a freehold estate being leaseholder owned is, where:

a) the freehold estate is solely owned by tenants in the building, whether through a corporate structure or otherwise; and

b) section 112(1)(b)(i)-(iii) of the Act does not apply in relation to the building.

Note, however, the specific proposals for what is and is not relevant building for the purposes of remediation contribution orders set out in section 19.

37. In Wales how the height of a building and the number of storeys within it are to be measured, for building control purposes, are set out in:

a) The Building Safety (Description of Higher-Risk Building) (Design and Construction Phase) (Wales) Regulations 2023 [1]

b) The Building Regulations 2010 - Approved Document B (Fire Safety) [2]

38. The Act provides for the Welsh Ministers to make regulations about how the height or number of storeys of a regulated buildings is to be determined (see section 6). The Act already makes provision in relation to when a mezzanine floor is to be regarded as a storey.

39. We wish to establish a clear framework for determining building height and number of storeys. These regulations will be especially important given that different categories of buildings are subject to different duties under the Act . Only category 1 and category 2 buildings are subject to Part 4 of the Act.

40. The policy intention is to broadly align the approach with the Building Safety (Description of Higher-Risk Building) (Design and Construction Phase) (Wales) Regulations 2023 and the Building Regulations 2010 - Approved Document B (Fire Safety). This ensures consistency across the design and construction phase and the occupation phase, avoids duplication of methodologies, and provides a familiar framework for industry.

Measuring the height of the building

41. We propose the regulations require the height of a building to be measured from ‘ground level’ on the lowest side of the building to the top of the floor surface of the top storey of the building. We propose the definition of ‘ground level’ aligns with the definition provided in section 6(5)(c) of the Act.

42. We also propose that any storey which is a roof-top machinery or roof-top plant area or consists exclusively of roof-top machinery or roof-top plant rooms is to be ignored.

43. The rationale behind measuring the height to the top of the floor surface of the top storey is that it provides a clear and objective reference point that reflects the building’s occupied height, rather than elements such as ceiling voids, roof structures or plant rooms. This avoids variability arising from design differences and ensures that classification is not influenced by features unrelated to building safety risk. It would also align with the proposed methodology for counting storeys (see below) and supports a consistent approach to measuring height and storeys across the design and construction phase and the occupation phase, and for the remediation provisions (section 5 above).

Determining the number of storeys in a building

44. We propose that the number of storeys in a building is to be determined at the position which gives the greatest number of storeys. However, we propose the following are to be excluded from the determination:

a) any storey which is below ground level;

b) any storey which is a roof-top machinery or roof-top plant area or consists exclusively of such areas.

45. We propose that the definition of ‘ground level’ in section 6 of the Act applies for these purposes, so a storey is treated as below ground level if the whole of the finished surface of the ceiling of the storey is below ‘ground level’, with ‘ground level’ being:

a) Where the level of the surface of the ground on which the building is situated is uniform, the level of the surface of the ground immediately adjacent to the building, or,

b) Where the level of the surface of the ground on which the building is situated is not uniform, the level of the lowest part of the surface of the ground immediately adjacent to the building.

46. For completeness, in accordance with section 6 of the Act, a mezzanine floor is regarded as a storey only where its internal floor area is at least 50% of the internal floor area of the largest storey in the building which is not below ground level.

Mixed-use buildings

47. We propose that the presence of commercial premises (mixed-use buildings) would not affect the methods of measuring height or determining storeys. The same methodology would apply irrespective of mixed-use configuration.

48. For example, if the lower two floors were commercial premises with no shared entrance and were not part of the ‘regulated building’, the height of the ‘regulated building’ would still be measured from the ground level within the meaning given in section 6 of the Act. If a commercial premises (single floor) with no shared entrance was located above the ‘regulated building’, the height of the building would be measured from ‘ground level’ on the lowest side of the building to the top of the floor surface of the top commercial storey of the building.

[1] The Building Safety (Description of Higher-Risk Building) (Design and Construction Phase) (Wales) Regulations 2023

[2] Approved Document B Volume 1 2020