The Building Safety Regulator has yet to sanction any building control bodies after assuming oversight of the sector in October 2024, Construction News can reveal.
Information obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act shows that 11 complaints have been registered with the BSR against private registered building control authority (RBCA) firms.
It has recorded eight further complaints against seven different local authorities, according to the FOI response.
Of the 19 complaints received by the BSR, 16 have been dismissed, with three cases – two concerning RBCAs and one concerning a local authority – still under review.
The response notes that some of the dismissed complaints may have been referred to other professional bodies to deal with.
One building control professional, who asked not to be named, told CN: “Historically, when the Construction Industry Council (CIC) was dealing with this, there were investigations and sanctions made.
“Is BSR doing anything? It’s part of their function to regulate building control bodies as a whole, what are they actually doing on that?
“I know their focus is on turning around applications, but this is a very relevant part of it.
“Shouldn’t they be acting to prevent companies collapsing and looking at their financial status?”
The source added that building control firms have been asked to provide masses of data to the BSR since 2024 but he does not know what has been done with the information
Before the BSR was given the job of regulating building control bodies, the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register (CICAIR) was responsible for oversight of the sector.
CICAIR ceased to exist on 1 October 2024 after a handover period between CICAIR and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which ran the BSR until earlier this week.
Between April and October 2024, immediately prior to the change of responsibility, seven sanctions were issued by CICAIR, while 13 issues were referred to assessors, complaint panels or disciplinary panels.
None of the 13 concluded they amounted to breaches of the approved inspectors code of conduct, according to a CICAIR report.
As of 1 November 2024 there were four sanction notices relating to four different companies displayed on the CICAIR website, following disciplinary hearings held by the body.
Experts have also raised worries over how robustly the BSR’s is scrutinising the financial stability of building control bodies.
From April 2024, building control companies have needed to register with the BSR in order to operate.
Bodies applying to be registered are required to provide information on criteria including a financial health check.
Despite this, three RBCAs have gone into insolvency in the period since the BSR took over.
An RBCA director, who requested to stay anonymous, said: “The BSR seem to be only interested in higher-risk buildings at the moment.
“The oversight of the whole of the building control profession seems to be very low on their radar.
“Even RBCAs I know that have been through a BSR audit are of the opinion that the audit is only interested in process and policy and not actual project delivery or professionalism.”
They added: “We are as a sector in need of a strong regulator that can guide us through the very murky regulations and actually give guidance – but they just won’t do that for some reason.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, BSR chief executive Charlie Pugsley and chair Andy Roe were asked how their body manages a potential conflict of interest between pressure to sign off buildings and also regulate professionals whose job helps this process.
Roe said the BSR’s regulation role is “very important” and that there is no tension between the positions.
Pugsley noted that Dame Judith Hackitt is reviewing the role of building control and said this might result in change to regulation of registered building inspectors in future.
On the potential conflict, he added: “We don’t think it’s a conflict because it’s one we consciously hold.
“One thing we are looking at going forward is how can we, in a careful way because it’s peoples’ personal data, […] what can we do to actually publish some findings and outcomes from [the regulation of building control] because that’s in everyone’s interest.”
But he cautioned: “If someone is investigated it’s almost sub judice. You wouldn’t want to prejudice anything.”
A BSR statement said that that “the absence of completed sanctions at this stage should not be taken as a lack of regulatory activity” (see box below).
Full BSR statement
The former CICAIR regime and the new BSR regulatory framework are not directly comparable.
CICAIR regulated Approved Inspectors at the entity level, whereas the BSR now regulates Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs), local authorities, and individual Registered Building Inspectors (RBIs) under a new statutory system with different powers, thresholds, and expectations.
In line with the Regulator’s Code, BSR is a proportionate and enabling regulator, and our approach is not to reach immediately for enforcement or sanctions.
Our priority is to support the profession to meet the new statutory requirements, escalating only where necessary, in line with the public interest.
Since the new regime came into force, we have been carrying out extensive regulatory oversight work — including the inspection of RBCAs and local authorities against the Operational Standards Rules (OSRs), which set out the expected standards for building control bodies.
This work is a core part of our regulatory activity and is already driving improvements across the sector.
Regarding levels of formal enforcement activity: statutory investigations typically take time, as they require detailed evidence‑gathering and rigorous assessment against the specified thresholds.
BSR has identified and received a range of concerns, including complaints, and several investigations are ongoing.
These cases remain active within our regulatory processes, and outcomes will be published, where appropriate, in accordance with our statutory duties.
The absence of completed sanctions at this stage should not be taken as a lack of regulatory activity.
BSR will take enforcement action where the statutory thresholds are met and where it is in the public interest.
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