Building Safety Act 2022 affecting UK proptech procurement

What is happening

The Building Safety Act 2022, post-Grenfell, introduced new accountability and information-management duties for higher-risk buildings (residential buildings of 7 storeys or 18 metres or more, with specific inclusions and exclusions). The Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive enforces.

The Act has reshaped procurement in adjacent proptech categories since 2023-2024:

Safety case management: vendors providing structured safety case preparation, ongoing maintenance, and regulator submission tools have addressable market that did not exist before the Act.

Golden thread information systems: the Act requires accountable persons to maintain a structured, accurate, accessible body of building safety information. Vendors providing tools to assemble, maintain, and present this information are in a growing category.

Accountable person workflow: the Act assigns specific accountabilities to defined accountable persons. Tools that help these individuals discharge their duties (incident logging, communication with residents, regulator notification workflows) have grown commercially.

Resident engagement: the Act requires structured engagement with residents on safety matters. Vendors providing residents portals, complaint handling, and safety communication tools have growing addressable market.

Vendor implications

Three implications for proptech vendors:

First, vendors aligned with the Act's information-management requirements have structural commercial tailwind from the affected building stock. Vendors should evidence alignment in marketing and procurement responses.

Second, vendors not aligned face screening on procurements involving higher-risk buildings. The screening is real, not a tick-box: building safety regulators have shown willingness to scrutinise documentation packages and reject inadequate ones. Vendors who claim alignment without evidencing it create legal exposure for the buyer.

Third, the regulator is still bedding in its enforcement approach. Specific patterns are emerging in 2025-2026 around safety case approval, building registration completeness, and information access requests. Vendors should track regulatory guidance and enforcement notices and adjust their offering accordingly.

Looking forward

The Building Safety Act regime is widely expected to extend in scope over time. Government policy direction and parliamentary scrutiny suggests the higher-risk building threshold may be lowered, broader categories of building may be brought into scope, and information-management duties may tighten. Vendors planning UK proptech sales beyond a 24-month horizon should expect the regulatory perimeter to expand rather than contract.