Welsh fire safety reforms reach the Senedd

The Building Safety (Wales) Bill was laid before the Senedd yesterday (7th July 2025), and forms part of a wider programme of reforms to improve safety in buildings across Wales, as part of the Welsh government’s broader response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The Bill includes several elements, such as a programme of work to address fire safety issues in multi-occupied residential buildings 11m tall and above, significant reforms to the building control system, and introducing new regulations for high-rise buildings. Additionally, the Bill sets out clearer responsibilities for duty holders, and mandatory registration and regulation of building control professionals.

The Bill will require building safety risks to be assessed and managed while buildings are in occupation, for the benefit of residents and others, with a robust enforcement regime to back that up. Fire safety duties will also apply to certain Houses in Multiple Occupation.

The legislation will additionally enforce accountability from duty holders, who will have a legal responsibility for assessing and managing building safety, ending confusion over who is responsible for the safety of residents and others.

The Bill will also see residents in all regulated buildings provide greater reassurances about the safety of their homes and clear routes for redress to raise building safety complaints, while also ensuring residents play their part in keeping the building safe.

Cabinet secretary Jane Bryant said: “This landmark Bill will fundamentally transform safety in multi-occupied residential buildings across Wales.

“Its key principles are safety, accountability and residents’ voices, and it goes wider and further than existing legislation in other parts of the UK.

“It creates clear legal responsibilities for owners and others, gives residents new rights and pathways to raise complaints, enables standards for professional assessments, and provides robust enforcement powers when safety requirements aren’t met.

“Because the safety and wellbeing of people in their homes must always be our priority.

“This Bill is part of a wider programme to ensure that buildings in Wales are safer, and that people are protected in their homes.

“The legacy of Grenfell Tower must be meaningful change. We owe it to those who lost their lives, their families, and the survivors to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again.”