The Building Safety Act (BSA) includes a number of groundbreaking reforms and places a significant emphasis on the management and transfer of safety-critical information throughout a building’s lifecycle. With product information and legislation so critical when specification decisions are made, how can we as a construction product manufacturer support specifiers, architects and contractors to make informed safe decisions?
The impact of the BSA
For the masonry sector, the Act has raised the bar on product conformity, traceability and documentation. It’s no longer simply a case of supplying a ‘compliant’ product. Product suppliers need to provide clear evidence of conformity to the relevant standards whether that’s BS EN 845-1/2 for masonry components or BS EN 1090 where steel execution applies. Declaration of Performance and CE or UKCA marking where applicable, test reports, and batch/serial traceability are essential to feed the golden thread of information.
With duty holders required to identify who is accountable, suppliers can expect more detailed contract clauses, warranties and requests for indemnities. Failure to provide full evidence may delay approvals or expose suppliers to claims if a product is later implicated in a safety issue. On top of that, installers’ competence and proof of correct installation (photos, sign-offs, inspection records) are required for the golden thread and to satisfy gateway and the statutory change-control process. Manufacturers must provide clear installation instructions, training and certification routes.
Implications for specifiers
For architect and contractors, the BSA means stricter specification and design evidence is required. Architects must specify proven systems (to the right standards, testing etc), document design decisions to feed the golden thread of information and must justify bespoke specification with risk assessments and testing evidence.
Duty holders, including principal designers and contractors, must meet competency expectations. Work on high-risk buildings (HRBs) is subject to Gateway 1–3 checks which means that documentation gaps such as missing product test certificates or lack of installation records can delay or stop work. Contractors must build the evidence trail into their programme and commercial risk management, ensuring that product IDs, certificates, test results, inspection photos, commissioning records and O&M information are captured and handed over as part of the permanent safety record for the building.
How IG Masonry Support has adapted to the BSA
All product information has or is in the process of being verified by the CCPI (Code for Construction Product Information). This is critical for duty holders as it clearly identifies that the product information is accurate and unambiguous. Technical Data Sheets and Installation Guides have also been updated to fully align with the Building Safety Act requirements.
We have also been awarded certification to BS EN ISO 19650-2:2018, the globally recognised standard for building information management (BIM) over the life-cycle of built assets. This supports a robust information management framework for traceability, digital record-keeping and structured workflows all of which are critical for the golden thread requirements.
We continue to lead the way with new product certification for our products including recently becoming the first masonry support manufacturer to achieve BBA for a masonry support system (Welded Masonry Support). This is key for IG as we pride ourselves in going above and beyond minimum standards and ensure our products meet the highest standards for safety and quality.
Supporting specifiers every step of the way
Specifiers face a challenging environment under the BSA and our role is to make it easier for them to make informed decisions. We provide:
- Detailed CCPI-verified technical data sheets, installation instructions and testing data for all of our products
- Third-party certified products to give specifiers confidence that a system has been independently assessed for intended use.
- A Building Information Modelling (BIM) and information management infrastructure aligned to BS EN ISO 19650-2:2018.
- A free scheduling and specification service from our in-house engineers
- Transparency around sustainability including EPDs for all our products, support responsible specification and environmental compliance.
- A CPD programme targeting architects, engineers and specifiers to provide deeper insight into our products.
- Full in-house manufacturing at our factory in South Derbyshire, certified to BS EN ISO 9001:2015, BS EN ISO 14001:2015, EN 1090-1:2009, guaranteeing consistent highest quality products.
A new era of transparency
Every project we have tackled to date under the BSA has had different requirements. By sharing learnings from previous successful submissions, we are able to support duty holders through the gateway process, helping them understand what information is required and how to structure it.
The Building Safety Act has dramatically changed the construction landscape but by ensuring the accuracy and quality of our product information, and supporting specifiers and contractors throughout the entire project lifecycle, we are committed to playing our part in delivering a safer built environment.
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