(5 min read)
The UK Government is consulting on its proposal to create a Single Construction Regulator, consolidating twelve regulatory functions and expanding the Building Safety Regulator's powers, in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations. It would be aligned to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and subsume the functions of the National Regulator for Construction Products. The consultation was launched on 17 December, with a deadline for stakeholder responses by 20 March 2026, and a White Paper on construction product reforms expected to follow. Key unresolved issues remain. Below, we outline the key points for industry to be aware of as an aid to reading into the consultation paper.
On 17 December 2025, driven by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s recommendations, the UK Government launched its consultation on a Single Construction Regulator. It is proposing the consolidation of fragmented regulatory functions into a single, independent body. See here.
Background
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 2 report, published in September 2024, identified decades of fragmentation, weak accountability, and a culture prioritising profit over safety as root causes of the disaster. In February 2025, the Government formally accepted all Inquiry recommendations, with the first being the creation of a single construction regulator to reduce regulatory fragmentation and drive cultural change.
Significant progress has been made since 2017, including combustible materials bans, lower thresholds for sprinklers, and enhanced building control for higher-risk buildings. However, the belief is that systemic challenges remain and issues around professional competence need to change.
The Government’s vision is to integrate the regulation of buildings, construction products, and building professions under one independent regulator. This builds on previous reforms, notably the Building Safety Act 2022, which established the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and the National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP). The consultation also commits to bringing forward a White Paper on construction product reforms by spring 2026 – with the intention of subsuming a reformed regulatory framework into the remit of the new regulator.
An independent review of the building safety regime is planned by April 2027.
Integrating existing regulatory functions
The key to the proposal is to consolidate twelve existing regulatory functions. These span the regulation of buildings, products, and professionals, including oversight of building control, regulation of construction products, licensing of contractors for higher-risk buildings, accreditation of fire risk assessors, and maintaining a library of test data.
This involves ‘a carefully phased transition’ of the BSR’s functions to the new regulator, with operational autonomy but strategic alignment to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and integrating the NRCP’s oversight of construction products.
The regulator would be operationally autonomous but strategically aligned, and accountable for embedding safety and quality. It is expected to monitor resident outcomes, support informed decision-making, and rebuild trust (currently lacking) through effective enforcement and information-sharing. It would focus on national oversight, enforcement, risk management, and sector engagement.
Horizon scanning
The full extent of new statutory powers and when this will all take effect remains to be seen. The design of the new professional oversight framework, including which professions will be subject to licensing or mandatory registration and the relationship between the new regulator and existing conformity assessment bodies will need future consultation.
Long-term impact
If brought into being, a new Single Construction Regulator could be expected to possess enhanced enforcement powers and a clear mandate to sanction non-compliance. Presumably, this would be accompanied by stricter requirements for professional accreditation, registration, and ongoing competence, particularly for safety-critical roles.
Potential impact on industry
The roll out of the new Building Safety Regulator was not without some significant issues, in particular the bottleneck of capability in industry to provide the level of advice required to comply with the new regime, and massive delays due to constrains on BSR resource in respect of construction work to both new builds and remedial works needed to pass through gateways.
It remains to be seen how the proposed regulator will operate but industry is strongly advised to engage with the proposals, identify early issues such as: how unsafe products are to be dealt with; levels of competency for product assessment; appropriate resource for regulators; early engagement with industry; the need for clear guidance setting expectations; and the need for ancillary issues such as capital and insurance markets being well briefed on the changes so they are ready to support industry. These were all teething issues with the BSR regime and should be issues that both industry and government will be keen to avoid seeing repeated.
