The heating and ventilation contractor trade body has spent the last six months canvassing its members to gauge take-up of measures introduced under the Building Safety Act, in force since 2022.
Far from seeing evidence of any significant culture change, they warn that pressure to deliver projects faster and more cheaply was increasing at the expense of quality and safety.
Firms reported a “total lack of engagement” from clients with BESA members reporting that “not a single client” had discussed compliance with them.
While owners and developers whose buildings were not classified as ‘higher risk’ (HRBs) on the whole wrongly believed the Act only applied to these types of buildings.
BESA’s director of specialist knowledge Rachel Davidson, said: “As there is currently very little enforcement of the legislation and, therefore, no apparent consequences, clients are still subjecting contractors to aggressive and sub-economic pricing.”
“Not a single client has asked any of our members about compliance with the Act. Tenders are still being won on lowest price and still being value engineered throughout the project on non-HRB works.
“Several contractors who insisted on applying more rigorous safety measures said they had been priced out of projects as a result,” said Davidson, who called for a government driven public awareness campaign to improve client engagement.
The BESA meetings also confirmed that most clients wrongly considered the legislation to be a ‘Construction’ Safety Act that did not apply to those owning, managing and operating buildings throughout their lifecycle.
“There is also a serious geographical divide with clear evidence that the further north you go the less awareness of and engagement with the legislation you find, particularly among clients,” said Davidson.
She added that the industry needed clearer and simpler guidance to help them both apply the legislation measures to their own businesses and explain them to their clients.
