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In this issue...
- 5 big changes coming your way in 2026
- The Technical Manager's view
- Latest from the Building Safety Regulator
- Part M - new ergonomic research
Plus: An update on Gateway 2... What to see and what to read in 2026... Residential PEEPS…
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BECOMING A REGISTERED BUILDING INSPECTOR- Everything you need to know...
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Technical Training Director Zoe Cox and Apprentice Building Control Inspector Pippa Devilliers explain the different routes and training programmes leading to professional qualification as an RBI at SOCOTEC Building Control - Watch the video
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APPROVED DOCUMENT C PART 1 - Site Preparation and resistance to contamination and moisture
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We go through the document’s many important requirements – including dealing with Radon gas -which could need attention at the very earliest stages of a project…
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Click here to watch the video
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Coming your way in 2026 - 5 big changes to watch out for in the world of Building Control this year
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The last few years have seen big changes in the industry, and 2026 looks likely to be a continuation of this trend – luckily you have SOCOTEC Building Control to keep you up-to-date!
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1. The Building Safety Levy
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From 1st October 2026, the new Building Safety Levy will be charged on construction projects (subject to exclusions) containing residential accommodation and will affect Building Control applications made from that date. The amount charged will depend on the geographic location of the project... Watch the video
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2. A FUNDAMENTAL REVIEW OF BUILDING REGULATIONS
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In April 2023, the responsibility for updating and keeping Approved Documents reviewed was transferred to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), in line with their duty under the Building Safety Act 2022 to monitor the safety and standards of buildings.
A Fundamental Review of Building Regulations panel was established in July 2025 with Terms of Reference expected soon after, to determine how best to provide clear, easy to understand guidance to the Building Regulations and to explore how to make Approved Document guidance:
- Easier to understand and use.
- Regularly updated to keep up with new technologies and practices.
- More accessible, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).
The aim is to produce an interim report in early 2026 and a final report by Summer 2026.
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3. The Future of Building Control
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Chaired by Dame Judith Hackitt, the Building Control Independent Panel (BCIP) is an independent expert advisory panel, providing analysis and advice to Government on the questions in the Grenfell Inquiry final report relevant to the future of the Building Control system in England.
These are:
- Whether it is in the public interest for Building Control functions to be performed by those who have a commercial interest in the process, and
- Whether all Building Control functions should be performed by a national authority.
Following the publication of its Terms of Reference and its Problem Statement, which noted that England is “far from unique in operating a mixed public and private sector model for Building Control”, the BCIP issued a Call for Evidence between 29 July and 29 August 2025. The results were expected at the end of October with feedback expected at the end of November 2025. The independent panel will consider the evidence collected to inform a report and recommendations to Government later in the year, although nothing has been published at the time of writing.
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4. THE FUTURE HOMES STANDARD
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The Future Homes Standard (FHS) is a set of new-build home heating regulations that will apply to new homes in England. The regulations will require most new homes to be built with clean heating systems (no gas boilers), high energy efficiency in building fabric, and Solar PV. New energy calculation methodology is being introduced.
New homes will need to be built to the highest efficiency standards, aiming to cut carbon by 75-85% compared to 2013 levels. The FHS is part of the Government's plan to reduce carbon emissions from new homes and help meet Net Zero by 2050.
It was expected that the full standard would be published in the Autumn of 2025 with legislation being laid before Parliament in December 2025 and the FHS coming into effect December 2026. A possible 12-month Transitional Arrangement Period running to December 2027 would mean the expectation of mass-scale building of homes to FHS from mid-2028.
However, at the time of writing the full FHS standard has not been published.
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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
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SOCOTEC's Joshua Davies talks about the challenges facing the industry and white 2026 will bring.
1. How did you get into Building Control?
It was completely by accident, to be honest! After finishing my Building Surveying degree, I applied for what I thought was a Trainee Building Surveyor role. You can imagine my surprise when the interview started with "So, why do you want to be a Building Control Surveyor?" I had to think on my feet and come up with something on the spot – and somehow it worked out! That unexpected turn has shaped my entire career, and I haven't looked back since...
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5. RECENT CONSULTATIONS - Reforms to changes for Local Authority Building Control services
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As mentioned by Joshua Davies in the interview above, the Government has proposed changes to Local Authority Building Control that would enable them to charge for services relating to, for example, Initial Notices and Final Certificates, that are currently provided without charge. The Government states that the additional costs are ‘expected to be passed on to consumers through higher prices, as this is an industry-wide regulation.’ The changes would affect only England. A recent consultation on the proposals closed on 25 January...
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* Guidance is subject to any changes the Government might introduce. Always check the latest updates on the gov.uk website here
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6. APPROVED DOCUMENT M: New demographic and ergonomic research published
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New Part M research has been undertaken by ARUP Consultants to understand the requirements of the population in England in relation to the built environment, in particular disabled people and people with long-term health conditions, to inform a possible update to Approved Document M (ADM) Volumes 1 and 2.
The key aims of the research were to:
- Understand what current evidence, data and research exists about the population in England, in particular disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.
- Produce new, up-to-date experimental and qualitative data, about the requirements of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions...
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7. BSR-Latest Gateway 2 figures
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The BSR claims January Gateway 2 figures show “a continuing positive momentum against a backdrop of increasing applications by industry.”
“Overall, Gateway 2 decisions continue to rise, with 698 decisions across all application types since 3 November 2025. The number of live applications of all categories is 1,159...
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8. BUILDING SAFETY REGULATOR - House of Lords committee reports ‘unacceptable’ delays ahead of BSR’s transfer to MHCLG
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The Government has been warned by a cross-party House of Lords Committee that “unacceptable” delays caused by the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) approval processes is leaving residents waiting for remediation of dangerous cladding in unsafe buildings and increasing costs for leaseholders...
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9. RESIDENTIAL
– PEEPs Factsheet for responsible persons
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Image alongside - Original design: Rehabilitation International This file: Jacklau96, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Government has published guidance and a ‘Factsheet on Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (Residential PEEPs)’ as a part of new regulations to improve the fire safety of disabled and vulnerable people in high rise and higher risk residential buildings.
These PEEPS would apply to those with a physical mobility issue, some other disability such as having a sight or hearing impairment, or a cognitive condition. The regulations also mandate building emergency evacuation plans in these buildings...
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OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL IN 2025
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Over 50,000 views
Over 3,000 hours of Building Regs CPD watched
With over 2,600 subscribers, our channel is in the top 8% of YouTube channels globally
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OUT AND ABOUT
Must-see exhibitions in 2026
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Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture
Sir John Soane's Museum, London
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Image alongside: John Vanbrugh Kings Weston Floor plan, via Wikimedia Commons
Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture will introduce new audiences to the work of an architect, dramatist and radical, whose plays, drawings, and buildings continue to inspire. The exhibition celebrates 300 years since the death of the architect John Vanbrugh. It includes many previously unseen drawings (some from the collections of the V&A, RIBA and National Portrait Gallery) and explores Vanbrugh's architectural legacy and influence over centuries.
Some of the UK’s most admired and loved country houses like Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard were the result of Vanbrugh’s genius, becoming cornerstones of English Baroque. Soane cited him as one of his great influences, saying Vanbrugh had “
all the fire and power of Michelangelo and Bernini”.
4 March 2026 - 28 June 2026
Free to visit
13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3BP (just across the square from SOCOTEC’s London office)
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Maggie's: Architechure that Cares
V&A Dundee
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Maggie Keswick Jencks, © Maggie's
Celebrating 30 years of Maggie's and the power of inspiring spaces.
Over three decades, a growing network of Maggie’s cancer care centres across the UK and beyond have shown that inspiring, caring buildings can create a much-needed space, away from the clinical environment of the hospital, for people to process one of life’s toughest challenges.
To mark the 30th anniversary of Maggie’s, this new exhibition will explore the organisation's groundbreaking approach to design, bringing together the voices of centre visitors and staff, with the globally recognised architects who have designed these buildings.
Each Maggie’s centre is a unique space, designed with care by renowned architects from around the world, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster and Benedetta Tagliabue.
In response to her own experiences of cancer, Maggie Keswick Jencks dreamt of buildings that would help people ‘not to lose the joy of living in the fear of dying’. By showing the design principles behind these unique buildings, the exhibition will show the importance of a warm welcome and a sense of home, views of nature, and moments of flexibility, beauty and surprise in creating inspiring spaces.
Opens Friday 6 March until Sunday 1 November 2026
Michelin Design Gallery
Free, no booking required
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And Finally...
NEW BOOKS arriving in 2026
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MODERNISM IN LONDON...
Royal Festival Hall
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A Living Icon
Edited by Eleanor Jolliffe and Sandy Rattray, Foreword by Dan Cruickshank
The Royal Festival Hall (RFH) - an important example of modernism in architecture and one of London's best-loved buildings - was built as a beacon of hope and renewal after the Second World War and quickly became popular. In this new book, a selection of contributors - architects, technicians, musicians, historians and cultural programmers - tell the varied stories of the building and the people who use it. The book is illustrated with photography specially commissioned from renowned architectural photographer Edmund Sumner, and contains 21 written contributions on different aspects of the RFH, from its history as a piece of architecture to the story of the famous organ, from the approach to literature and spoken word to the life of the production team. The building's emergence as a destination for all, whether to enjoy a performance by a world-famous symphony orchestra, a dance class, a poetry reading or just a cup of coffee, is considered in the context of the intentions of its original planners and those who have led, maintained and refurbished it since. This book offers an invaluable record of the history of this celebrated building in the first 75 years of its life and looks to the future as a centre of cultural programming - both weathering and shaping change - for many more decades to come.
Publication due March 2026
From £39.95
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RURAL RETREAT...
Rethinking the Pavilion
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Rethinking the Pavilion: Shared Experience at the Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre (Design Research in Architecture) by Cindy Walters
Rethinking the Pavilion investigates one unique project in detail, the Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre in rural Suffolk, completed by Walters and Cohen Architects in 2018. The result was an innovative building typology that has never been designed before in any western country. The process by which the Vajrasana project came into existence has come to define and shape the way in which the practice makes architecture, through a deepened understanding of how buildings can exert powerful social impacts on all who use them.
It was the Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre project that enabled Walters and Cohen Architects to shift the focus away from the ideal pavilion to the social pavilion. While pavilions are usually seen as finished objects, this book argues that they can be seen as a process, namely a social process. The book describes how shared experience defines a new way of working towards an architecture that rediscovers and enriches its communal purpose.
Paperback - Publication due March 2026
From £50
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