While there has been much speculation about what the Building Safety Act will mean for existing procurement practices, what is certain is that the current process will need to change to reflect the new requirements, particularly those affecting higher-risk buildings (HRBs).

One thing that the building safety regulator has been clear on is that the current practice of starting works on site while other key elements of the design are progressed will not be acceptable. The BSR cannot see the current process working under the new regime because design occurring at the same time as construction will simply not be viable. Design and build (D&B) will have to change.

This raises the key question that, if design needs to be progressed to satisfy building control before works start on site, does that mean the end of single-stage D&B?