New cladding-remediation Bill: what construction businesses should watch

What does the Bill propose?

The Government intends to speed up the assessment and remediation of unsafe external walls, strengthen enforcement and improve routes for recovering the cost of defective or unsafe construction products. The Bill is substantial, and different provisions have different scopes.

Which buildings could be affected by the new remediation duties?

Part 1, Chapter 1 proposes duties for defined responsible entities concerning specified existing buildings completed before 28 June 2022. The qualifying definition in clause 40 covers self-contained buildings or qualifying self-contained parts in England that contain at least two dwellings and are at least 11 metres high or have at least five storeys.

Those thresholds are alternatives: a building may qualify by height or storey count. The Bill contains technical rules for measuring height, counting storeys and identifying self-contained parts. Accordingly, the figures alone are not a complete legal test.

Clause 42 generally connects the term responsible entity with the person obliged, under a lease or legislation, to repair or maintain the relevant external walls. This is not a proposal to impose an identical direct duty on every contractor or developer involved in the original project.

The proposed measures include arrangements for assessing fire-safety risks, adopting interim measures when required and progressing remediation-compliance plans. The precise duties, standards and timetable will depend on the enacted law and any subsequent regulations.

Stronger enforcement and intervention

The Bill would provide additional enforcement mechanisms for failures by parties falling within its provisions. Some breaches could attract financial or criminal consequences if the relevant proposals are enacted and commenced.

It also proposes arrangements under which public authorities could seek intervention where remediation has stalled. A power to intervene should not be confused with a general transfer of every remediation cost to the taxpayer: legal and funding responsibilities would still require careful analysis.

A proposed medium-rise residential building register

Part 2 proposes a register of certain medium-rise buildings in England. Clause 48 defines the category, in broad terms, as buildings containing at least two residential units that are at least 11 metres high or have at least five storeys, while also being under 18 metres high and having fewer than seven storeys. Regulations could refine the definition and measurement rules.

The combination of height and storey limits matters: a building meeting one minimum threshold could still fall outside the proposed medium-rise category because it reaches the upper threshold. The Bill identifies who would carry responsibility for registration and envisages further detailed procedures to be made by regulations.

Proposed changes to construction-product liability

Part 5 proposes amendments to the Building Safety Act 2022 concerning claims relating to unsafe construction products. The proposals address the basis and scope of liability, access to evidence and the potential position of associated entities.

These changes could matter to building owners, developers, contractors and others who have paid to remedy unsafe building products and are considering recovery claims. But the Bill's introduction does not itself establish a claim against a manufacturer or alter liability today.

Why should construction and engineering businesses care?

Remediation projects can involve distinct questions: who must undertake urgent works, what specification is required, which contractual party bears the immediate cost, and whether expenditure can be recovered from a developer, contractor, designer or product supplier.

Those questions should not be collapsed into a single assumption that the party undertaking remediation is necessarily the party ultimately liable for its cost. Existing building-safety and contractual duties continue to matter while the Bill is considered.

What should project teams do now?

1. Map potentially affected buildings. Record residential use, completion date, height, storeys and self-contained parts before assessing the Bill's definitions.
2. Identify legal responsibilities. Review ownership, leases, management agreements and existing statutory duties.
3. Preserve technical documents. Keep design information, product specifications, substitutions, approval records, fire-risk assessments and remediation evidence.
4. Review remediation contracts. Pay attention to scope, design responsibility, insurance, programme, variations, record-keeping and potential recovery claims.
5. Distinguish present law from future proposals. Do not amend compliance policies on the assumption that the Bill's proposed offences or registration duties are already operating.
6. Monitor parliamentary changes. Recheck amended Bill texts, Royal Assent, commencement and any implementing regulations before taking action based on the new scheme.

What happens next?

As at 19 October 2026 the Bill has received its first reading and is scheduled for second reading in the House of Commons on 27 October 2026. It has not received Royal Assent. Parliament may amend its scope or obligations, and separate commencement provisions or regulations may be needed even if it becomes an Act.

The existing Building Safety Act 2022 regime and other applicable duties remain in place. Businesses should treat the October 2026 measures as proposals until their legal status changes.