Residential Building Safety in Wales
Local Partnerships have been commissioned by Welsh Government to support them, and the 22 local authorities throughout Wales, in the development and implementation of operating models which will enable them to establish new Building Safety Authorities throughout Wales.
Welsh Government introduced the Building Safety (Wales) Bill (‘the Bill’), in 2025, to build on the progress that has already been made to secure the safety of multi-occupied buildings in Wales. Under the new regulatory regime, all multi-occupied residential buildings, regardless of tenure, are within scope where they contain two or more residential units. Over 500 buildings throughout Wales will be subject to new requirements under the building safety regime.
Local authorities will be taking on the role of the Building Safety Authority, which will have the role of holding a register of relevant buildings and overseeing compliance with the regime, alongside Fire and Rescue Authorities.
The challenge
Support from Local Partnerships has involved advising, and working with, the local authorities and other stakeholders on developing a model to ensure successful implementation of the Bill and the establishment of Building Safety Authorities.
This involves high level strategic engagement with local authorities and Fire and Rescue Authorities with the high-level objective of local authorities agreeing an operating model for Building Safety Authorities across Wales.
The outcomes of the work will involve developing a model for Building Safety Authorities to ensure successful implementation of the Bill.
Specifically, the scope of the project included:
- Leading/facilitating discussions with local authorities in support of them determining a regulator model that is right for them
- Exploring current IT arrangements within local authorities and interface with Fire Rescue Authorities and other external bodies
- Working with local authorities and the Welsh Government on how proposed registration will operate on a national and/or regional basis
- Ensuring and demonstrating effective stakeholder engagement
- Considering capacity building training to effectively deliver the scale of skills required for the programme – including understanding of workforce development, recruitment and retention as well as associated costs
The solution
Local Partnerships’ approach encompasses the following five stages:
Stage 1: Discovery
Review background documentation and hold interviews with stakeholders:
- Undertake a mapping exercise to identify existing operational and strategic approaches to building safety
- Work with the Welsh Government workforce workstream to understand capacity challenges
- Develop criteria to support local authorities’ decision making on operational modelling as building safety authorities
- Define current funding approaches to inform implementation proposals
Stage 2: Analysis:
Review the results of the discovery phase with stakeholders:
- Undertake an analysis of existing arrangements, including inter-local authority working, different models of working within local authorities and current strategic thinking on future options/arrangements
- Identify opportunities, barriers and how barriers can be overcome
- Facilitation of virtual workshops with the participants to discuss and test our findings.
Stage 3: Co-designed Options Paper
Identify potential operating models with local authorities to inform a critical path to implementation that is co-designed and owned by local authorities:
- Production of an options paper on operating models for Building Safety Authorities including consideration of revenue generation – based on research, detailing potential models for Building Safety Authorities including revenue support and risks associated with each option
- Provide a common understanding of what local authorities can deliver with available resources, taking into account funding streams
- Production of a clear and agreed process for the joint management between Building Safety Authorities, taking into account risks and dependences
- Consideration of roles and responsibilities (for example, who takes the lead and where others can and should take a lead)
Stage 4: Critical Path:
Production of a report outlining the Critical Path to establishing Building Safety Authorities for 2026-27, including:
- Required operational decisions
- Formal agreements of sharing information and information sharing with local authorities and Fire Rescue Authorities
- Identification of roles and responsibilities
- A matrix of partnership working and communication channels
- Required guidance on operating procedures
- A management plan to track the above.
Stage 5: Reporting and presentation: The production of a final report for Welsh Government review.
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