What is the Building Safety Act 2022?

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) is said to be the biggest change to building safety regulation in a generation. Its aim is to improve the overall safety standard of buildings in response to the Grenfell tower tragedy on 14 June 2022. The fire was exacerbated by the combustible cladding added to the external walls between 2015-2016 during the refurbishment of the 67.3 metre, 120-bedroom block of flats. The fire claimed 72 lives.

The BSA 2022 legislation established a new regime and responsibilities for managing fire safety and building safety in higher risk residential buildings (defined as at least 18 metres in height or seven storeys and having two or more residential units). The Government has tried to shield leaseholders from the remediation costs, and place the burden firstly on developers, and then on to building owners/managers.

What this means in a practice:

Leaseholders

The passing of this legislation bears significant adjustments to leaseholder protection and redress. This means details of who will meet remediation costs for historical cladding and non-cladding defects, will surpass most tenants, detailing that ‘no service charge is payable under a qualifying lease in respect of legal or other professional services relating to the liability… of any person incurred as a result of a relevant defect’. 

Qualifying leaseholders, to their benefit, are now protected from paying any costs for the removal or dangerous cladding. The amount they can be asked to contribute in respect to historical safety defects will also be capped, and payments are to be made over a decade. Extra benefits were also awarded within the act such as extensions to the time allotted for bringing certain claims. 

Non-qualifying tenants are only protected from the costs of historical safety remediation if the building owner is - or is associated with - the developer who is responsible for that defect.

Landlords 

With this significant benefit awarded to long leaseholders, it is fair to say that landlords face disappointment if they try to recover the cost of remediation from tenants. They may face further disappointment if they try to recover historic costs relating to building safety improvements following the judgment of Adriatic Land 5 Limited v Long Leaseholders of Hippersley Point [2025].  In this case the majority of Judges decided the BSA could have retrospective effect. Historic costs the landlord incurred in remedying building safety defects could not be recovered from the tenants in the service charge if the service charge had not been paid by 28 June 2022. 

The court agreed that the Full Retrospective Construction was too broad and effectively capped how far back in time this would apply. 

The Court of Appeal noted that the finding of retrospectivity did not violate Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as it amounted to a control of the use of property rather than the deprivation of property. 

The passing of this act highlighted the key amendments needed to reform the existing framework. The BSA 2022 Act and the Hippersley case was a key in protecting those in a position of being a leaseholder, therefore leading to changes to the regulation of construction works, the enforcement of safety rules, establishing new legal responsibilities, extending liability period and an overall strengthened oversight of higher-risked buildings. 

Effect on Litigation

The objective behind the Building Safety Act 2022 has been given a voice in the recent landmark Supreme Court judgment of URS Corporation Ltd v BDW Trading Ltd [2025]. The judgment reflects public policy and the Government’s view that those responsible for building defects should be accountable for the costs of remediation. Since Grenfell, the Government has tried to tackle remedying buildings with unsafe cladding. An estimated 4,000 – 7,000 buildings in England still have unsafe cladding. Of the 4,834 buildings identified only 1,436 have had remediation work completed. 

Thus, it is anticipated the BSA 2022 will cause an influx of claims to be pursued by developers and building owners via the different routes which have been approved by the Supreme Court. Therefore, we have outlined how the BSA 2022, among other instruments, extends the limitation period in which claims can be brought and expands the scope as to who claims can be brought against. 

Extension of Limitation Period

One of the most common observations of the BSA 2022 is the significant shift in the law it brings. Recovery was possible for BDW in its case against URS due to the retrospective effect of s.135 of the BSA 2022. Previously a claim under s.1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 would have had to be brought by the Claimant six years from the date the cause of action accrued otherwise the defendant would have a full defence as the claimant would be statute-barred from bringing a claim. The limitation period has since been extended to 30 years where a cause of action accrued before 28 June 2022 and to 15 years after 28 June 2022. Therefore, those responsible for defective works as far back as the early 1990s could face potential liability. 

Scope 

The duty to build dwellings properly is found under s.1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 (DPA 1972). The Supreme Court in URS v BDW considered whether URS (as structural engineers) owed a duty to BDW (as the developers). URS argued that the aim of s.1(1)(a) was to protect purchasers of new dwellings, whereas BDW contended that a developer could both owe a duty to the purchasers but also be owed a duty to contractors. The Supreme Court endorsed BDW’s interpretation of the Act, which ultimately paves the way for an additional route of recovery for developers by way of a direct statutory cause of action. 

This statutory cause of action combined with a 30/15 year limitation period underlines how the aim of the BSA 2022 is to incentivise developers to take steps to remedy any defects to ensure any danger to homeowners is removed, with reassurance that the costs they incur in doing so will be recoverable against those with the greatest responsibility for the defects.

If you require legal advice regarding a claim under the Defective Premises Act 1972, please contact one of our Dispute Resolution experts who will be happy to assist. Our team work with both individual and business clients.

Or, if you have any queries relating to Commercial Property, please contact one of our experts, details can be found here.