After almost two years of anticipation, the Government's Remediation Bill has finally arrived. The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill (the Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 14 October 2026, accompanied by a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) guide summarising its key reforms.

In our previous Remediation Bill watch update we noted that much of what was known, until today, came from the Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP) and parliamentary debate. In this update, we set out the key takeaways from the Bill and consider what they mean for building owners, landlords, managing agents, developers and construction product manufacturers.

A legal duty to remediate – who and what does it cover?

At the heart of the Bill is a new legal duty on "responsible entities" to assess and remediate life-critical external wall fire safety risks. The duty is expected to come into force two months after the Bill receives Royal Assent.

The duty will apply to "relevant buildings", i.e. self-contained buildings (or a self-contained "part" of a building) in England over 11 metres in height or with at least five storeys, which contains at least two dwellings, in both the private and social sectors. However, the regime is limited to relevant buildings completed before 28 June 2022, which is the date on which key provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) came into force.

Broadly speaking, the "responsible entity" will be the party with the relevant repairing obligation for the building. This may include freeholders, head or sub-lessees, right to manage companies and resident management companies. Buildings subject to the Developer Remediation Contract are excluded, as equivalent obligations already apply.

The duty encompasses:

Duty to carry out an assessment of risks: responsible entities have a duty to ensure that a compliant Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls (FRAEW) is carried out by a suitable professional. This must be completed within the time period running from 16 May 2022 (the date on which the Fire Safety Act 2021 came into force) to 12 months after the Bill receives Royal Assent. It is understood that regulations will specify that FRAEWs must follow the PAS 9980 methodology. Compliant assessments carried out since 16 May 2022 need not be repeated.

Duties to mitigate and remediate: where a FRAEW recommends remedial works, responsible entities must carry out the recommendations and any interim measures "as soon as reasonably practicable". Interim measures such as waking watches will not satisfy the duty on their own. Regulations and statutory guidance will explain what amounts to a "required remediation step" and what is "as soon as reasonably practicable". Notably, neither the Bill nor the Government guidance refer to the fixed end-2029 and end-2031 deadlines that had previously been set out in the RAP.

Remediation Compliance Plans: where a responsible entity is subject to the legal duty to remediate outlined above, it must also produce a "remediation compliance plan" explaining how it proposes to comply with that duty. The plan must set out the proposed steps, a timetable and, for companies, the responsible director, beneficial owners and wider group information. The plan must be published and shared with residents, and its cost cannot be passed to qualifying leaseholders.

Enforcement and sanctions

Local authorities, fire and rescue authorities, and the Building Safety Regulator will hold enforcement powers.

The Bill sets out a significant raft of sanctions including:

  • Failure to assess: a criminal offence, with prosecution or escalating financial penalties possible.
  • Failure to remediate or mitigate: up to two years' imprisonment on conviction or, as an alternative to prosecution, a financial penalty of up to £500,000.
  • Failure to publish a Remediation Compliance Plan: substantial financial penalties that continue to accrue until the plan is produced.
  • Director liability: directors may be prosecuted where a corporate failure is due to their consent, connivance or neglect.
  • Obstruction: a new offence of unreasonably obstructing anyone lawfully assessing or remediating a building, punishable by a fine of up to £40,000 for individuals and a penalty based on worldwide revenue for companies. Examples include refusing access or raising unreasonable disputes about the scope of works. 
A "reasonable excuse" defence will protect those acting in good faith, for example where there are supply chain problems or contractor shortages.

Group accountability

One of the most striking features of the Bill is the introduction of group accountability – this is primarily set out in Schedule 2. This allows for fines and certain remediation management order costs to be served on and paid jointly and severally by the corporate "responsible entity" and a "connected person".

The Government states that this will ensure enforcement action "reflects the economic reality of corporate structures, so that those with real control over a building cannot avoid responsibility through complex ownership arrangements."

However, it acknowledges that these powers are far reaching and interact with the principles of corporate limited liability. It says they are intended only for the "most egregious cases". They will be time-limited and kept under review.

The Remediation Backstop and Remediation Management Orders

Where enforcement has failed, the Bill introduces a last-resort Remediation Backstop. This is implemented via section 34 and Schedule 1 of the Bill. These allow a "remediation authority" (a local authority or Homes England) to apply to the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) for a Remediation Management Order.

The FtT may make a Remediation Management Order only where it is satisfied that there has been a "compliance failure" and that it is "just and convenient" to make the order.

Compliance failures include failure to comply with notices under the Building Act 1984, the Housing Act 2004, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or the Building Safety Act 2022, a Remediation Order made under s. 123 of the BSA, or the legal duty to remediate.

The MHCLG guide confirms that works carried out through the backstop will be funded through existing government schemes. However, regulators will still be able to prosecute the responsible entity for failure to comply with prior enforcement and the legal duty to remediate.

As such, the backstop "forms part of a package and is not an alternative to prosecution or fines." It will also require the responsible entity to pay for all management and legal costs associated with the backstop.

Other key measures

Construction products – section 149 BSA reformed: the Government accepts that section 149 of the Building Safety Act 2022 "has not worked as intended", with very few claims brought. As a result, various changes will be made to s.149. The Bill also confirms that Building Liability Orders can be used for section 149 claims. These changes will come into force two months after Royal Assent and will apply to new claims and to claims already underway, within the existing 30-year limitation period. They will also extend UK-wide, bringing Northern Ireland into scope for the first time.

Medium-rise building register: similar to the register of higher-risk buildings which was established in 2023, the Bill will now establish a statutory register of occupied "medium-rise buildings". These are defined as buildings in England of 11 to 18 metres (with at least five storeys, but fewer than seven) containing at least two residential units. Failure to register will attract civil penalties of up to £7,000, rising to £40,000 or prosecution for continued non-compliance. The registration charge (expected to be at or below £251) will be recoverable through the service charge. Further secondary legislation will be required to implement the medium-rise register and commencement is expected 8 to 10 months after Royal Assent.

Beneficial ownership: local housing authorities, fire and rescue authorities, the Building Safety Regulator and Homes England will be able to require building ownership information, with penalties of up to £40,000 for non-compliance.

No Limitation Act 1980 period applies to Remediation Orders, Remediation Contribution Orders or Building Liability Orders: the Bill also confirms that applications for Remediation Orders, Remediation Contribution Orders or Building Liability Order have no limitation periods under the Limitation Act 1980. This eliminates the risk of limitation periods expiring before leaseholders or freeholders have knowledge of the building safety defects, which often require intrusive work to uncover and therefore can remain undiscovered for decades.

Remediation Contribution Order funds: these must be held on trust, protecting them if the recipient becomes insolvent.

When will the changes take effect?

Most measures, including the duties to assess, mitigate and remediate, and the section 149 reforms are expected to come into force two months after Royal Assent. It is expected that enforcement action for failure to assess and failure to produce a Remediation Compliance Plan will be possible from 12 and 15 months after Royal Assent respectively.

What should stakeholders be doing now?

  • Building owners and landlords should identify which buildings are in scope, check whether existing FRAEWs follow PAS 9980, and prepare for Remediation Compliance Plans, including identifying a responsible director.
  • Investors and corporate groups should review ownership structures in light of the group accountability and beneficial ownership provisions.
  • Right to manage (RTM) companies and Resident Management Companies (RMCs) should take advice early on their position as potential responsible entities.

We will continue to track the Bill as it passes through Parliament and monitor any amendments.

How we can help

Our leading Building Safety team advises on a wide range of issues relating to building safety, including regulatory investigations, enforcement and criminal sanctions. With expertise drawn from a specialist cross-discipline team, we provide practical, easy-to-understand advice with clear recommendations.

If you have any questions about the issues raised in this article, please get in touch with Jessica Tresham or Gemma Whittaker.