Welsh Ministers have made the Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 6) (Wales) Regulations 2025, setting 1 July 2026 as the date when a further set of Building Safety Act powers take effect in Wales. The instrument, made on 12 December 2025, is the sixth Welsh commencement under the Act.
From that date, Wales will commence provisions on compliance and stop notices, the three‑year lapse of building control approvals, determinations by the Welsh Ministers or the Secretary of State where deadlines are missed, strengthened offences for breaches of building regulations, and default powers for the national authority. The package also switches on section 32(2) (amending section 91 of the Building Act 1984) and selected consequential amendments in Schedule 5, completing earlier partial commencements from 2023 and 2024.
Compliance and stop notices are central to the change. A building control authority will be able to require specified remedial steps within a set period through a compliance notice, and to halt specified work immediately or from a stated time via a stop notice where prescribed contraventions or a risk of serious harm are identified. Breaching a notice is a criminal offence and there is a right of appeal to the appropriate court or tribunal.
In practice, enforcement sits with local authority building control in Wales. Registered building control approvers do not hold direct enforcement powers; where they oversee work and identify non‑compliance, escalation is to the local authority, which may then use the new notices. Site programmes should therefore anticipate potential pauses if a stop notice is issued and ensure clear pathways for swift remedial action.
Approvals that do not progress to a physical start will no longer sit indefinitely. From 1 July 2026, building control approvals will lapse automatically if work has not commenced within three years of the relevant application day. On multi‑building sites, the lapse applies building‑by‑building. Initial notices and plans certificates will also lapse after three years.
Where prescribed applications-particularly for higher‑risk buildings-are not determined by the building control authority within set timescales and no extension is agreed, applicants will be able to seek a decision from the appropriate national authority (the Welsh Ministers in Wales, or the Secretary of State as relevant). This is intended to prevent undecided applications from stalling projects.
Offences for breaching building regulations are strengthened. The updated section 39 makes contraventions triable either way, with potential imprisonment or an unlimited fine, and extends the period for local authorities to serve notices requiring removal or alteration of non‑compliant work from 12 months to 10 years. This materially raises enforcement exposure for dutyholders.
Default powers allow the appropriate national authority to step in where a local authority is in default of its building control functions, including by transfer order. This backstop is designed to maintain service continuity and ensure enforcement capacity where local performance falls short.
A series of consequential amendments in Schedule 5 also commence, updating terminology and procedures across the 1984 Act framework-for example around consultation duties, certificates and records. The instrument additionally activates section 32(2), which updates section 91 of the Building Act 1984 on local authority duties, aligning it with the modernised regime.
These changes sit alongside the Welsh shift to registered building control approvers from 1 January 2025. Private‑sector plan checking and inspection continues under that model, but where non‑compliance is found, the enforcement pathway is via the local authority using the new notices and offences that take effect in July 2026.
For project sponsors and contractors, the practical tasks are clear. Approvals diaries should record the ‘relevant day’ for every application so three‑year lapse points are visible; multi‑building phasing plans need contingency for building‑by‑building expiry. Site management and legal teams should rehearse notice handling, evidence capture, and decision‑making to reduce programme risk if a stop notice is served.
For clients and public bodies, governance should ensure timely decisions on prescribed applications to avoid escalation to Ministers. With offences and limitation periods strengthened, boards will expect assurance that compliance monitoring and handover documentation are robust. The lead‑in to 1 July 2026 is the window to harden these controls and to refresh contracts and insurance positions accordingly.