A bill introduced to Parliament on 14 October would create specific duties to assess and fix unsafe cladding on blocks of flats in England. The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill is proposed legislation; these new duties are not yet in force.
The proposed remediation duty would cover multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres high or with at least five storeys, completed before 28 June 2022. Buildings covered by the developer remediation contract would be excluded from this duty because equivalent requirements already apply.
Responsibility would follow the relevant repairing obligation for the building. That could sit with a freeholder, a head or sub-leaseholder, a right-to-manage company or a resident management company. If you let a flat in an affected block, establishing who holds that obligation is a useful starting point.
Where an external-wall fire risk appraisal recommends remedial work, the responsible person or organisation would have to produce a plan and share it with residents and leaseholders. Our September report explains what an external-wall fire appraisal involves.
The bill also proposes a last-resort route for public authorities to seek tribunal orders allowing them to take over stalled cladding works. This would involve a formal process, rather than an automatic takeover.
If you are concerned that work on your block is not progressing, the government guide says to raise this first with the organisation managing the building and, where appropriate, the local regulator. The bill does not replace existing building-safety responsibilities.
