The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill: an overview for owners, managers and residents 

On 14 October 2026 the government published its guide to the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill. The Bill would introduce a legal duty on the owners of certain residential buildings in England to assess and remediate unsafe cladding. It is still a Bill and is not yet law, and much of the detail will be set out in regulations. 

Who it covers 

The duty would apply to multi-occupied residential buildings in England that are over 11 metres tall or have at least five storeys, and that were completed before 28 June 2022. Private and social housing are both in scope, including enfranchised and commonhold blocks. 

The main exception is buildings already covered by the Developer Remediation Contract. The 53 developers who have signed it have committed to assess and fix life-critical fire safety defects, so those buildings sit outside the new duty. 

The duty would fall on whoever holds the repairing obligation, which the guide calls the responsible entity. This could be a freeholder, a head or sub-leaseholder, a right to manage company or a resident management company. 

What the Bill requires 

The Bill sets out three steps, each backed by a legal duty. 

Assess. Where a general fire risk assessment recommends it, a fire risk assessment of the external walls (FRAEW) is required, following PAS 9980, the British Standards Institution method already widely used in the industry. Assessments carried out since 16 May 2022 do not need repeating if they met the rules at the time. Homes England will audit every FRAEW that recommends work, along with a share of those that conclude none is needed. 

Plan. If a FRAEW recommends work, the owner must publish a Remediation Compliance Plan. The plan sets out the steps and timetable, names the responsible director, and lists beneficial owners and the wider company group. It is published on the owner’s website and provided to residents and leaseholders. The cost of producing it cannot be passed on to leaseholders. 

Remediate. Owners must carry out the FRAEW recommendations, and any interim measures, as soon as reasonably practicable. Interim measures such as waking watch are temporary, are not a substitute for remediation, and must be stood down once the building is remediated. 

Key dates 

All dates run from Royal Assent, for which there is not yet a date. 

Smaller changes worth knowing about 

• A register for 11 to 18 metre buildings. Residential buildings with two or more dwellings, between 11 and 18 metres or five to six storeys, will have to be registered.  

• Ownership information. Local housing authorities, fire and rescue authorities, the Building Safety Regulator and Homes England will be able to demand details of who owns and controls a block, including beneficial owners. 

• Regulators working together. A duty to co-operate, data sharing on request, and partnership agreements between local authorities and fire and rescue authorities in each area. 

• Shorter decants. When an authority orders residents out, it will generally have to serve an improvement or enforcement notice requiring the safety work too. In an emergency, within 28 days. 

• Landlord insolvency. Regulators must be told when an owner of an 11 metre plus building enters a voluntary arrangement, moratorium or liquidation. Leaseholders in a building left without a freeholder get a clearer route to right to manage or a court-appointed manager. 

• Safer funds. Money from Remediation Contribution Orders will have to be held in trust, so it can't be swallowed up if the landlord becomes insolvent. 

• Evacuation plans. Personal emergency evacuation plan assessments will be able to look inside a resident's flat, with their consent. 

Preparing in advance 

Responsible entities may find it useful to start preparing before Royal Assent. The department has said it will publish draft guidance before the duties start, followed by regulations on what counts as a required remediation step. 

How Joule can help 

Our team is happy to talk this through with you. We can explain what a FRAEW (fire risk assessment of external walls) and PAS 9980 involve, how long the process is likely to take for a building like yours, and what happens next. 

Source Guide to the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, published 14 October 2026.