Duty Holder Regime Under the Building Safety Act – Two Year On: What It Means for Your Construction Projects

December 18, 2025

The duty holder regime was introduced under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) with further provisions set out in the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023 (BRAER) to ensure that parties understand their obligations and comply with the requirements of these legislations (the “Regulations”).

Understanding your duties as a stakeholder is therefore of great importance. In this article, we have set out a summary of these duties for the below stakeholders and what they mean for your construction project:

  1. Client
  2. Principal Contractor
  3. Principal Designer
Client Duties

A client under the BRAER is referred to as the person for whom a project is carried out. (This may be an employer or a funder).

It is the responsibility of the client to:

  1. Ensure that suitable arrangements for planning, managing and monitoring the project are made throughout the project lifecycle including allocating sufficient time and resources to ensure compliance with all relevant requirements.
  2. Provide building information as soon as practicable to every designer and contractor on the project.
  3. Cooperate with any other person working on or in relation to the project to the extent necessary to enable compliance with the Regulations.
  4. Appoint in writing a principal contractor and a principal designer for the purposes of the Regulations. This provision would be complied with if the client certifies in writing that the person who is the CDM principal designer or CDM contractor would be appointed as the principal designer or principal contractor under the Regulations. This applies to both HRB works and other projects before the construction phase begins.
  5. Appoint a replacement principal contractor or principal designer where the appointment of the principal contractor or principal designer ends before the project. Failure of which will result in the client being held responsible for this role thereby increasing its risk exposure for failure to comply until it makes such appointment.
  6. Keep records of each appointment made in compliance with the Regulations.
  7. Take ‘all’ reasonable steps to satisfy itself that persons(s) employed by it can fulfil the competency requirements and general duty to plan, manage and monitor as set out in the Regulations or is undergoing training to fulfil these obligations and adequate supervision is being provided for such person(s) before permitting them to carry out any work.

Additionally, in relation to Higher Risk Building (HRB) works:

  1. Make suitable arrangements to ensure information is provided to the designers and contractors working on a project to make them aware that such project includes HRB work and the nature of the HRB work.
  2. Review periodically the building work and the design work included in or yet to be included in the project to identify whether it is HRB work and ensure information are provided where the work becomes HRB.
  3. Ask the person(s) engaged whether a serious sanction has occurred in relation to HRB within 5 years ending on the date of the appointment and review any information provided in this regard.

A distinction is made for Domestic Client under BRAER:

A domestic client is a client for whom a project is being carried out which is not in the course or furtherance of a business of that client.

For a domestic client, the obligation to carry out certain duties particularly those in relation 1, 7, and 10 of the client duties above,  is on the contractor where there is one and in cases of more than one, the duty is one the principal contractor or principal designer (upon written agreement), and a failure to make such appointment would result in the designer in control of the design phase becoming the principal designer and the contractor in control of the construction phase becoming the principal contractor.

Principal Contractor Duties

Under the BRAER, it is the responsibility of the principal contractor to:

  1. Plan, manage and monitor the building work during the construction phase.
  2. Coordinate matters relating to the building work in the project to ensure they are complaint with the relevant requirements.
  3. Take ‘all’ reasonable steps to ensure that:
    • the contractors and any other person involved in relation to the building work cooperate with the client, the principal designer, the principal contractor and each other;
    • the building work of all contractors in coordinated so that the work is in compliance with all relevant requirements; and
    • contractors and any other person involved in relation to the building work comply with the duties under the Regulations.
  4. Not act as a principal contractor if it doesn’t satisfy the requirements of the Regulations including in relation to competence at the time of its appointment.
  5. Liaise with the principal designer to ensure compliance with points 1 & 2 above and have regards to any comments provided by the principal designer in this regard.
  6. If requested by the client, provide information to other designers and contractors
  7. Where its appointment ends, provide the client no later than 28 days after the end of its appointment with information on how it intends to fulfil its duties.

Where a replacement principal contractor is appointed following point 7, it has the responsibility of reviewing the arrangements put in place by the previous principal contractor to comply with its duties to ensure the building works are compliant with the relevant requirements.

    Principal Designer Duties:

    Under the BRAER, it is the responsibility of the principal designer to:

    1. Plan, manage and monitor the design work during the design phase.
    2. Coordinate matters relating to the design work such that if the building works were built in accordance with that design, it would be complaint with the relevant requirements.
    3. Take ‘all’ reasonable steps to ensure that:
      • designers and any other person involved in relation to the design work cooperate with the client, the principal designer, the principal contractor and each other;
      • the design work of all designers is coordinated so that the design is such that if the building works were built in accordance with that design, it would be complaint with the relevant requirements; and
      • designers and any other person involved in relation to the design work comply with the duties under the Regulations.
    4. Not act as a principal designer if it doesn’t satisfy the requirements of the Regulations including in relation to competence at the time of its appointment.
    5. Liaise with the principal contractor to ensure compliance with points 1 & 2 above and have regards to any comments provided by the principal contractor in this regard.
    6. If requested by the client, provide information to other designers and contractors
    7. Where its appointment ends, provide the client no later than 28 days after the end of its appointment with information on how it intends to fulfil its duties.

    Where a replacement principal designer is appointed following point 7, it has the responsibility of reviewing the arrangements put in place by the previous principal designer to comply with its duties to ensure the design is such that if the building works were built in accordance with that design, it would be complaint with the relevant requirements.

    What does this mean?  The BRAER uses the word ‘must’ in setting out these obligations which means they are a mandatory requirement which has to be complied with, failure of which may result in regulatory sanctions.

    Important Updates and Legal Considerations for Duty Holders
    1. Change in Client – The BRAER imposes an obligation to notify the relevant authority where the client for the project changes after an application for building control approval or building notice is made (An instance, would be where a funder has taken over a project from an employer). This notice must meet the requirements set out in the BREAR
    2. Duty Holder Regime under the CDM (Construction, Design and Management) Regulation 2015 – The duty holder regime under the BSA and BREAR does not displace those imposed under the CDM Regulations. Thus, it is important to ensure compliance with both.
    Recommendations for Clients, Principal Contractors, and Principal Designers:
    1. It is important to include these requirements from a client perspective in the contract appointing a principal designer or principal contractor to ensure compliance under the relevant regulations.
    2. From a principal contractor and principal designer perspective, consider the scope of your duties set out in the appointing document to ensure it does not exceed those set out in the relevant regulations and that the required competency is met before taking on the role particularly as a replacement principal designer or principal contractor.
    3. Parties should promote and champion means of communication that ensures effective collaboration across the different stakeholders.
    4. Flag non-compliance issues as soon as possible, preferably once discovered to prevent breach of the regulatory requirements.
    Latest Government Reforms

    The Government has announced a set of reforms to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) including a new Fast Track Process to enhance the review of new build applications, unblock delays and boost sector confidence. This is to support the government’s plan to build 1.5 million homes.

    For more understanding of the Building Safety Act and the New Raft of Regulations, see our Article here.

    If you would like to discuss the topics raised within this article, please contact us to speak to a member of our construction team. Our construction team also provides training on the Building Safety Act and Building Regulations.

    Cesare McArdle
    Partner, Commercial & Construction
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    This reflects the law and market position at the date of publication and is written as a general guide. It does not contain definitive legal advice, which should be sought in relation to a specific matter.

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