A single regulator is not yet a single system.

The Single Construction Regulator is coming. The system must not wait until 2028The Government has confirmed its intention to legislate for a Single Construction Regulator, with implementation expected to begin from 2028, subject to parliamentary time and the progress of the necessary Bill.

The direction is welcome. The new regulator is intended to bring the regulation of buildings, construction products and professions into one coherent system, using the Building Safety Regulator as its foundation. Its precise functions, how they will work together and how they will connect with the wider regulatory system remain under development.

That work cannot be treated simply as an organisational restructuring exercise.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry identified a system in which concerns arising in different places were left unconnected and unaddressed. Bringing regulatory functions together may reduce institutional fragmentation, but it will not automatically create the intelligence flows needed to recognise developing problems.

Encouragingly, the Government’s response recognises this. It states that comprehensive and responsive horizon-scanning functions will be an essential part of the regulator’s risk-based approach. It also refers to better intelligence-sharing, risk monitoring, rapid alerts and prompt communication of emerging risks.

This may prove to be one of the regulator’s most important functions.

Serious safety failures rarely arrive fully formed. They develop through weak signals: recurring defects, unusual incidents, questionable product performance, uncertainty within standards, enforcement experience, research findings or concerns raised by competent practitioners. Individually, these signals may appear inconclusive. Connected and interpreted, they may reveal a systemic risk.

A regulator with oversight of buildings, products and professions should be better placed to make those connections. However, it will still depend upon intelligence generated beyond its own organisation. Fire and rescue services, confidential reporting systems, standards committees, professional bodies, insurers, researchers, manufacturers, building owners and practitioners all hold parts of the picture.

The immediate task is therefore to develop the interfaces through which intelligence can be received, assessed and acted upon. There must be clear routes for deciding whether an emerging concern requires monitoring, research, changes to standards or guidance, regulatory intervention, enforcement attention or urgent communication.

That capability cannot sensibly wait until the formal launch of the regulator. The period before 2028 should be used to test the necessary relationships, reporting routes and decision processes using real emerging risks. Otherwise, the new regulator may inherit an impressive collection of functions without yet possessing the nervous system needed to connect them.

The success of the Single Construction Regulator will not ultimately be measured by the number of bodies or responsibilities brought within its structure. It will be measured by whether significant risks are recognised sooner, whether accountability is clearer and whether the system acts before avoidable harm occurs.

The legislation may come later. Building the intelligence system should begin now.

Pyrology Insight provides commentary on contemporary fire safety topics. It is intended to stimulate professional discussion and should not be relied upon as project-specific advice.