How to include building safety in a commercial plan
Make approval dependencies, responsibilities, evidence and costs visible in the project plan. Keep regulatory requirements separate from contractual entitlement.
by Jack Butler-Kettle · About 4 min readShare
Before you start
Confirm that the project is in England. Gather the design status, proposed appointments, building-control strategy, programme and budget.
This guide concerns commercial planning for projects in England. Building safety and building control arrangements differ elsewhere in the UK.
A quantity surveyor can help record costs, responsibilities and programme dependencies. Technical compliance and statutory duties still require the appropriate competent people. Sources checked on 25 October 2026.
Step-by-step guide
1. Confirm the regime and responsibilities
Ask the client and design team to confirm the applicable building-control route, project classification and any transitional arrangements. Record the reasons and the person responsible.
The government dutyholder guidance covers responsibilities and competence for design and building work. These duties are not confined to higher-risk buildings.
For relevant higher-risk work in England, the Building Safety Regulator is the building-control authority. The definition depends on height or storeys, use and exclusions.
Use the higher-risk building approval guidance and its linked definitions rather than a height-only test. Construction-stage and occupation requirements also need separate consideration.
Record appointments and interfaces. Do not assume a QS appointment includes design approval or a statutory principal designer role.
2. Plan approval dependencies
Identify what must be approved before relevant work starts and who assembles the submission. Application validation is not approval.
Map design completion, submission, queries, decisions, procurement and construction dependencies. Do not treat a published review period as a guaranteed approval date.
Where staged work is permitted, record the approved boundaries. Do not assume approval of one stage authorises the next.
Identify completion evidence and any registration needed before occupation. Align handover planning with the relevant building-control requirements.
Keep statutory approvals distinct from contractual practical completion and entitlement to payment. Check each against its own requirements.
3. Allocate costs and risks
Allocate responsibility and an identified allowance for design coordination, submissions, technical checking, inspections, testing and record preparation. Avoid counting the same task in several packages.
Check application fees and any applicable levy, including exemptions, against current official guidance. Record what the allowance includes and who pays it.
Identify the commercial effect of unresolved design information and approval dependencies. Show the basis of contingency separately from confirmed scope.
Do not assume an unapproved material substitution is a saving. Consider its technical assessment, approval, procurement, programme and evidence costs before recommending it.
The contingency explanation helps distinguish identified allowances from unresolved risk.
4. Control changes and handover evidence
For higher-risk projects, maintain the required change-control record against the agreed documents. Have the responsible team classify proposed changes before the affected work proceeds.
Government guidance on higher-risk building changes distinguishes recordable, notifiable and major changes. Major changes require approval before the affected work continues; notifiable changes must be submitted beforehand.
Track the contractual instruction, price, programme effect and regulatory decision separately. Regulatory approval does not itself establish a contractual right to additional time or money.
Retain the decision, revised information, inspection evidence and responsibility for closing outstanding items. Check that handover records reflect what was actually built.
Contract management support can help maintain the commercial record alongside the technical team's statutory work. Agree the limits of each appointment.
Before you finish: Confirm that responsibilities, approval dependencies and evidence costs are recorded. Keep technical compliance decisions with the responsible competent team.
Worked example
The facts
Fictional example: during a higher-risk building project in England, a contractor proposes substituting an approved product to reduce its purchase price.
What happens
The design and dutyholder team assesses the proposal and confirms its change-control category. The QS records the proposed saving without treating it as approved.
The team checks submission requirements and the effect on affected work. The commercial comparison includes redesign, testing, approvals, procurement and programme consequences.
The contract team separately checks instruction, valuation and notice requirements. The accepted design, cost decision and required evidence are recorded together.
What this shows
The decision considers the full effect of the substitution. A cheaper purchase price alone does not establish a compliant or economical change.