The Government has accepted the core principles of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Building Control Independent Panel, which warned the current system is fragmented, inconsistent and exposed to commercial pressure.
The panel said the present set-up cannot provide consistent assurance that building work is safe, with inspectors battling shortages, uneven enforcement and conflicts of interest.
Its key recommendation is to end the long-standing right of dutyholders to pick their own building control provider.
The report states: “If we were designing a system from first principles, we would not create one that allows dutyholders to choose their own regulator.”
Ministers have not yet committed to the full ban, but will carry out further analysis and consultation.
They have promised £55m over three years to build capacity in the registered building inspector workforce, with £5m funding pathfinder schemes in high-growth housing areas where teams are already stretched.
The panel’s long-term plan would replace nearly 250 local authority building control authorities and around 80 private registered building control approvers with fewer, larger publicly accountable Building Control Bodies.
These new bodies would take on statutory functions now held by councils, carry out gateway checks for non-high-rise work, act as provider of last resort, issue completion certificates and enforce consistent national processes.
Private providers and local authority teams could still offer client-facing services, but final allocation and statutory oversight would sit with the new independent bodies.
The review also calls for the future Single Construction Regulator to be given stronger legal, technical and investigatory powers to support enforcement.
Private building control approvers would also be handed compliance and stop notice powers to level the playing field with councils.
The panel warned that enforcement is currently rare and uneven, with local authorities often lacking the resources and legal backing to act.
It also raised the alarm over a workforce crunch, citing Building Safety Regulator data suggesting the system is already around 2,000 inspectors short, with another 1,500 expected to retire by 2035.
Ministers are also looking into revising charges to allow full cost recovery across a wider range of building control activities and functions.
A Digital Building Control Roadmap will be published shortly to improve data sharing, transparency and consistency.
The Government said future reform must be “carefully phased and sequenced” to avoid destabilising a system already under pressure.
