Building Safety Act Principal Designer role – time for architects to step up?

The Building Regulations Principal Designer plays a crucial role in helping clients ensure that their buildings are designed and delivered safely and in line with Building Safety Act updated Building Regulations, however, how do you know if you have the right individual or organisation for the job? Hear from Director and Head of Design Delivery Unit, Neal Morgan-Collins as he discusses further. 

Current regulations allow any competent organisation or Individual in control of design work to offer Principal Designer services to clients. Architects, who are usually embedded within a project from the outset, who are responsible for advising on the design intent and work with the wider project team to solve problems, would arguably be best placed to take on the Principal Designer role. However over recent years, we have seen a cultural shift amongst many architecture practices as they focus more on conceptual design and less on technical design and delivery of projects. 

These ‘design studios’ are becoming increasingly popular but seem to be either unwilling to take on the Principal Designer role, unable to demonstrate competence or to obtain the required Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) to do so. Shying away from the role allows others from a non-lead consultant background to step in, as too often happens with the CDM Principal Designer role as evidenced by this statistic; 

HSE research report published in June 2023, noted organisations most likely to carry out the CDM Principal Designer role were health and safety consultants, client advisors and project managers, and according to the RIBA Journal, ‘RIBA members accounted for only 18% of the survey respondents, with the general feedback suggesting that ‘designers and architects did not want to take on the PD role’, seeing health and safety as the contractor’s responsibility.’

While there are clear potential benefits associated with receiving independent advice and peer review on a project, significant issues arise when third parties offer Principal Designer services to clients. A trend that seems to be on the rise with Building Regulations, where so called ‘experts’ win work with cheaper fees in a race to the bottom, undervaluing and often underestimating the extent of involvement and competency required for the role. Cheap fees too often equate to a lack of resource and inexperience, which can easily result in failing to meet the legal duties of the role and ultimately the delivery of non-compliant buildings.

How can a third party with only partial exposure and knowledge of the project journey, conversations and design decisions made, carry out this comprehensive role and manage the golden thread of information effectively? If you are a Consultancy firm offering Building Regulation Principal Designer services, how do you maintain the same level of quality of engagement with the design team if you are limited in your exposure and ability to control their design work?

Regulatory compliance is a fundamental part of any design, and so the Building Regulations Principal Designer role should be carried out by a party that is deeply embedded in the project, has been there from the beginning and is fundamentally involved in all ongoing conversations. Who is well positioned to ensure effective communication and therefore compliance of teams’ decisions throughout. It therefore seems only logical that the Principal Designer role would be carried out by the lead designer or consultant role as so many of the legal responsibilities naturally converge with their scope of work. 

A strong foundation of design and delivery experience is crucial to effectively manage the programme and successfully navigate the Gateway Two process; a combination of skills and experience that seems to be increasingly a scarcity within the architecture industry. So, is it time for Architects to step up to the challenge, embrace technical design and delivery, and ensure they are competent to carry out the Principal Designer role?