The Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026: Same but different?

The Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 (BSWA) received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026. While most of the operative provisions within the BSWA are not yet in force, once implemented it will regulate the residential sector in Wales. While the aim of BSWA is similar to the aims of its English equivalent, the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA), there are important differences and we touch upon some of them which may catch out those that have assets in Wales and who are getting used to the BSA.

The ambit of BSWA

The BSA is primarily concerned with taller buildings, being those that are at least 11m in height or at least five storeys (“Relevant Buildings” under the BSA), with additional layers of regulation applying to buildings that are at least 18m tall or have at least seven storeys (“Higher Risk Buildings” under the BSA).

By contrast the BSWA is intended to have much broader application. It does not rely upon the Relevant / Higher Risk Building concept. Instead, it introduces the concept of “Regulated Buildings”.

A Regulated Building is defined in the BSWA as a building that contains at least 2 residential units, is wholly or mainly in Wales and is not excluded. The first thing to note is that there is no height threshold. Therefore, buildings that contain at least two residential units which are less that 11m tall or contain fewer than 5 storeys are regulated by the BSWA in some way shape or form, unless they are exempt.

Regulated Buildings are, themselves, subdivided into three categories:

• Category 1: buildings of at least 18 metres in height or 7 storeys;
• Category 2: buildings between 11-18 metres or 5-7 storeys high; and
• Category 3: buildings which are below 11 metres and have fewer than 5 storeys.

Categories 1 and 2 are broadly in line with what we recognise to be Higher Risk Buildings and Relevant Buildings respectively under the BSA. The principal additional regulation introduced under the BSWA lies in Category 3 Regulated Buildings, which are not captured by the BSA. Such buildings are required is to undertake an annual fire risk assessment, which is to be carried out using a methodology that is tailored to the fire safety risks that present themselves in a residential environment.

Residential units and dwellings

The BSWA defines Regulated Buildings with reference to “Residential Units”. A Residential Unit is defined as a dwelling or other unit of living accommodation. The term “other unit of living accommodation” is not presently defined so it is unclear what might be caught here.

This lack of clarity is particularly notable when compared to the position under the BSA. Hotels are expressly excluded from the meaning of Higher Risk Building under the BSA. The position under the BSWA appears to be materially different in that hotels are not included within the list of buildings that fall outside of the definition of Regulated Buildings. It is unclear whether this omission is intentional and whether, if it is, that is because the intention is for hotels in Wales to be caught by the BSWA or whether it was considered self-evident that a hotel room is not within the meaning of “other unit of living accommodation”.

Independent sections

The concept of ‘independent sections’ exists within the regulations underpinning the BSA to assist in defining the footprint of a Higher Risk Building. There is a different, but not dissimilar test within the BSA itself for defining the footprint of a Relevant Building. These definitions are particularly important in the context of a mixed-use building where not all parts of it will be regulated by the BSA.

The BSWA introduces a comparable concept of ‘independent parts’. The good news is that the BSWA creates a single test that will apply to all Regulated Buildings. The bad news is that it appears to operate a narrower test for independence than we currently have for Higher Risk Buildings in England. This means that whereas parts of a tall building in England may be considered independent from the Higher Risk Building (and therefore outside the scope of BSA regulation), in Wales these parts may fall within the equivalent Category 1 Building in Wales.

Registration and the regulator

In England, the Building Safety Regulator is an independent body (formerly part of the HSE) designed to have oversight of Higher Risk Buildings. There is no equivalent independent body in Wales. Instead, the role of the regulator will be performed by a combination of local authorities and the fire risk authorities which will deal with matters of registration, safety oversight and building control approvals.

When it comes to registration the position is also different. In England, registration is reserved for Higher Risk Buildings only. In Wales registration under the BSWA will apply to both Category 1 and Category 2 buildings.

Conclusions

There is still a lot of detail to be introduced that will support the BSWA and it remains to be seen how it will operate in practice. Suffice to say that for present purposes, it is important for those who have property assets located in Wales as well as England to recognise that the regime in Wales is here and to be alive to the fact that it is in parts materially different to its English equivalent and will apply to a wider range of properties.