The ability to prosecute is an important part of the building safety regime, though regulators also intervene in other ways. Section 35 of the Building Act 1984 enables a local authority to prosecute where work is done in breach of the Building Regulations, with a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine, while section 36 enables a local authority to require building owners to correct work that does not comply. Prosecutions must be brought within two years of the completion of non-compliant building work, while requirements to correct work must be made within twelve months.<\/p>
Dame Judith Hackitt\u2019s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety identified the need to strengthen the sanctions and enforcement regime and the Government has accepted this recommendation. That is why we are consulting on a package of measures to overhaul the system, including setting up a single building safety regulator with stronger sanctions and enforcement powers. Our consultation document \u201cBuilding a Safer Future\u201d, published on 6 June, contains proposals to strengthen sanctions and enforcement, including changes to sections 35 and 36 of the Building Act and to make it easier for the regulator to intervene to ensure resident safety at key points in the life-cycle of high-risk buildings. We are working with existing regulators to explore the opportunities for maximising cost recovery as an option for funding tougher regulatory activity on higher-risk buildings in scope of the new regime. The consultation closed on 31 July and the Government has committed to bringing forward legislation to implement reforms as early as practicable.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4084", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Esther McVey"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Tatton"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Esther McVey"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-09-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-09-09T13:13:33.377Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "7"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Housing, Communities and Local Government"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Building Regulations"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to research by the Local Government Association showing that prosecutions under building regulations have fallen by approximately 75 per cent in the last 10 years what plans he has (a) to increase sanctions and penalties for non-compliance with building regulations and (b) to ensure that local authorities are awarded full costs for such cases.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4122", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Alex Cunningham"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Stockton North"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Alex Cunningham"} ], "uin" : "281100"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }