On 9 July 2026 the Building Safety Regulator announced it is changing how it handles building assessment certificates for occupied higher-risk buildings, after refusing 66% of applications so far this year. Determination times have run at twice the expected length (GOV.UK).

The regulator will now only call in new applications when necessary until improved processes are agreed, prioritising assessments already underway, and is offering pre-application support to resident management companies. Initial updated resources are expected from September 2026.

A written ministerial statement on 20 July added that new Cladding Safety Scheme applications will be prioritised by risk to life rather than building height alone (FSM Magazine). Risk-based rather than threshold-based is the pattern across all of it.

The detail that matters most is the stated reason for the refusals. The BSR found applications fail because they “focus on process compliance rather than effective management of safety” (FSM Magazine). Read that twice if you are one of England’s 6,000-plus accountable persons.

What this means for your building

The pause is on the certificate, not on the duties. The BSR was explicit that all principal accountable persons and accountable persons must continue to manage their buildings so residents are safe from fire spread and structural failure. The duties sit in Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022 and none have moved: section 83 requires you to assess the building safety risks, section 84 requires all reasonable steps to prevent them materialising, section 85 requires the safety case report, section 87 covers mandatory occurrence reporting and section 91 the residents’ engagement strategy. A quieter inbox from the regulator is not a change in the law.

“Process compliance” is a contract. “Effective management of safety” is a closed loop. That is the difference between the applications that passed and the two-thirds that did not. A compliance-shaped answer says: we hold a fire alarm maintenance contract, servicing is quarterly, here is the certificate. A management-shaped answer says: servicing is quarterly to BS 5839-1:2025, the last four visits raised eleven defects, nine were closed within the month, two are on a dated remedial programme with a named owner, and the panel log confirms it. Same building, same contractor, completely different evidence. The BSR’s guidance asks applicants to demonstrate the measures in place rather than just list them.

A safety case report is only as good as the records underneath it. The report is a narrative, and narratives are cheap. What makes one credible is whether the evidence exists and agrees with itself: alarm coverage that matches what the fire risk assessment specifies, compartmentation and fire stopping surveys that identify breaches and then show them sealed, fire door inspections with remedial dates, AOV servicing and fire damper drop test records. Most refused applications are not buildings with nothing in place. They are buildings where nobody assembled the proof.

A refusal is not a finding that your building is unsafe. The BSR is clear that refusal reflects whether accountable persons are meeting their statutory obligations, not a judgement that the building is dangerous. It also removes the excuse: if you were refused, the gap was in what you could demonstrate.

Check whether you are actually in scope, because plenty of people get this wrong. For the in-occupation regime a higher-risk building is at least 18 metres or seven storeys, and contains at least two residential units (GOV.UK guidance). Buildings that are solely hospitals or care homes are excluded from Part 4 and regulated as workplaces under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 instead, though Part 3 construction duties still apply. If you run a care home, your obligations run through the Fire Safety Order and the enforcement route we covered in July, not a building assessment certificate.

If you have been refused, this window is the opportunity. Fast-track reassessment is being explored for previously refused certificates “once standards are met”, and the standards are the variable you control. Closing remedial actions now beats waiting for September.

What to check before September

  • Pull your last four service visits for every fire safety system and look only at the defects. How many were raised, how many are closed, and can you date each closure? That answer is how your safety case will read.
  • Check your fire risk assessment and alarm design agree. If the assessment specifies a category the installed system does not deliver, that inconsistency is what an assessor finds. We offer a free second opinion.
  • Find your compartmentation and fire stopping evidence. Not the survey alone: the survey plus proof the breaches were sealed. A survey with an open action list is evidence against you.
  • Confirm fire dampers have been drop tested. BS 9999 expects testing on completion, then at intervals not exceeding 12 months. One of the most commonly missing records in a safety case.
  • Name an owner and a date for each open remedial action. “Awaiting quote” with no date is the most common weakness in a refused application.
  • Do not wait for a direction to apply. Once the BSR directs you, section 79 gives you 28 days. That is not long enough to build an evidence pack from nothing.

How Gemini helps

The evidence a safety case needs spans disciplines usually bought from four different companies, which is why it rarely reconciles. We cover fire risk assessments, fire alarm service and maintenance to BS 5839-1:2025 under our BAFE SP203-1 registration (certificate 102640, third party certificated by NSI), fire alarm remedial works to clear a defect backlog, evacuation alert systems to BS 8629, compartmentation and fire stopping, fire door inspections, AOV smoke extract and fire damper testing. For residential and social housing and residential developments that is one evidence pack from one contractor, with defect closures recorded.

If you have a refused certificate or a direction coming and you are not sure what your records would show, call 0330 043 0080.

Sources: GOV.UK press release, 9 July 2026, FSM Magazine, Inside Housing and Building Safety Act 2022 Part 4. If anything here is inaccurate or out of date, contact us on 0330 043 0080 and we will correct it.