How the Building Safety Act is changing construction (and how to keep up)

“This change is coming. It’s unstoppable.” So said Dame Judith Hackitt back in October. Fortunately, pockets of the industry are already adopting the smartest solution to implement that change.

As we digest the new Building Safety Act regulations which came in to effect in October and welcome a new Building Safety Regulator, few would disagree that the legislation is forcing alterations in all aspects of project management and delivery.

In her report into building safety following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, Hackitt identified systemic procurement failures in the sector that had led to speed and cost eclipsing quality and safety. The BSA that followed is now changing the way the industry works by clarifying responsibility, mitigating risk, protecting the public and improving the consistency and quality of design and delivery.

Collaboration – something persistently elusive in our sector – will be vital. How the industry responds will demonstrate either a willingness and openness to change or will create even thicker walls.

Platforms lock down the set of components that sit behind designs and this limited number of components streamlines compliance

Many agree that a platform design approach to manufacture and assembly (P-DfMA) is the only comprehensive approach that offers the potential for fast, sustainable, behavioural change. It identifies and creates typologies around the common features of a wide range of assets, and – as such – it controls variables, provides a smaller number of solutions and components to share across industry, and enables the standardisation of both design and project management.

This greater standardisation of processes in turn leads to better tracking of information and decisions leading to compliance. Platforms lock down the set of components that sit behind designs and this limited number of components streamlines compliance.

It is critical, as an industry, that we converge on a small number of platform options. If the number of options expands, we are back to square one – and we lose the benefit of standardisation and the simplicity this creates for technical compliance.

The foundation of digitised design and construction is a digital library of components with standardised requirements embedded to rigorously demonstrate compliance. No longer overwhelming, this component data becomes easy to manage and utilise. Designers can consider the most complex and vast strands of data and options immediately and simultaneously.

This means that compliance is “pre-baked” into the design at the earliest stages through rule sets and parameters that are agreed up front by multiple engineers. From that point on, design compliance can then be either shown systematically against the agreed rule set or even autogenerated against it.

>> Also read: Building safety: it’s a team game
>> Also read: Assessing the Building Safety Act’s new product safety regime 

Because the construction process is linear, sharing still involves multiple “hand offs” between parties with imperfect transfer of information and data leading to rework and duplication. Automated design and updates speed up the process and have delivery “built in”, which leads to complete and integrated design to prove compliance in the upfront design stages. This open and shared information is vital across projects and across sectors.

Automatic generation of models ensures that the correct components are used and are performing within their defined parameters and that the data is properly structured and follows all information management protocols.

This digitisation of all aspects of the design and the data attached to it allows an automated checking process that is not subject to human error, so teams can be confident that the testing and certification is rigorous and holistic. But how do we know that what was designed is what is built?

If the BSA onus is on ensuring that the design does not change from specification to delivery, then the exactness of the design and the tolerances is crucial.

The platform acts as a carrier frame, providing an accurate superstructure that allows proof of compliance in installation. The risk of on-site discrepancies is greatly reduced in two key ways. Firstly, intelligent design and automated fabrication remove the need for human “interpretation” of drawings, increasing accuracy and consistency, for greater safety and productivity. Secondly, interfaces are accurately pre-engineered, transforming speed and safety of the installation on site.

This ensures that what was designed and modelled is much more likely to be what is installed on site, with no need for site-based problem-solving and the unanticipated consequences. 

Platform components create these superstructures, which – while a relatively small proportion of the cost – are critical in maximising the accuracy of the installation. The superstructure is highly dimensionally accurate, with fixings “designed in” to enable high levels of accuracy for the elements attached to it.

Increased use of standardised, repeatable, design and components inherently leads to less variance and more standardised tasks on site. This reduces the risk of changes and, again, potential deviation from the original design.

The variable quality of workmanship and skill in traditional construction makes it difficult to guarantee that what was drawn and specified is actually what is installed

The greater use of consistent, digital workflows through design, procurement and manufacturing will also extend into logistics and labour. For instance, we can accurately predict operative numbers, position them on site, and schedule their training and workload. This level of control is unremarkable in manufacturing but extraordinary in construction.

Lastly, the variable quality of workmanship and skill in traditional construction makes it difficult to guarantee that what was drawn and specified is actually what is installed.

The design of platform interfaces is so accurate that it reduces reliance on skilled trades and workmanship and provides a visual and straightforward quality assurance process for greater consistency and accuracy.

The golden thread – data – winds through the entire platforms process building a core set of information that can be re-used and creating feedback loops that will inform the design of future assets. This is building safety at its most progressive.

If the sector can continue to meaningfully embrace platforms, then we have a fighting chance of delivering the transformation that the BSA requires and deserves.

Jaimie Johnston MBE is a board director and head of global systems at Bryden Wood and design lead for the UK Construction Innovation Hub. He was awarded his MBE for services to construction