Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023
England-focused reference checklist
Editorial source review: 2026-10-17
https://saeedazarshab.com/articles/england-building-regulations/higher-risk-buildings-procedures-2023/

INDEPENDENT GUIDANCE — not project-specific legal/design advice or a compliance certificate. Check the official current requirements and applicable transition.

These regulations govern the specialist building-control process for relevant higher-risk building work in England. They address applications, controlled changes, notifications, completion and information. First classify the building and proposed work: not all tall buildings or all work within an existing building follow identical procedures.

WHAT TO CHECK
[ ] Confirm current higher-risk criteria, exclusions, work category and any valid transitional arrangements.
[ ] Identify whether approval is required and obtain it from BSR before relevant work starts.
[ ] Allocate owners for compliance statements, control plans, competence evidence and agreed documents.
[ ] Log and classify proposed changes; obtain required approval before implementing a major change.
[ ] Schedule notices, inspection points, completion evidence and any applicable building-safety levy requirements.

RECORDS TO KEEP
- BSR application, agreed documents, decisions and conditions.
- Change-control log with assessments, notifications and approvals.
- Inspection, completion, required information-handover and levy records where applicable.

WHEN TO GET SPECIALIST HELP
Ask the competent principal dutyholders and BSR about uncertain scope, emergency work or changes; do not use this summary to bypass an approval hold point.

SCOPE AND EDITION
Sources reviewed 17 October 2026. Current guidance and revised law include October 2026 levy-related changes; do not rely on the original 2023 PDF alone. Design/construction higher-risk definitions differ from occupation rules.

OFFICIAL SOURCES
Higher-risk building procedures — latest available legislation
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/909/contents

Building control approval for higher-risk buildings
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/building-control-approval-for-higher-risk-buildings

Manage a higher-risk building application
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-a-building-control-application-for-a-higher-risk-building

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated. Original practical summary by Saeed Azarshab.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/