After several weeks of attempts to save the business, it has been reported that Wakefield-based building compliance and inspection firm Assent Building Compliance has ceased trading with immediate effect.
The loss of this major independent building control firm, reportedly with thousands of planning submissions on its books, is a severe blow to projects already delayed awaiting Building Safety Regulator approval. Construction Enquirer said that the firm was a “key player” in the BSR Gateway 2 approval process for “many projects.”
Construction News reported that staff had worked “tirelessly” to save the business, which also supplied inspection, certification, training and safety services, but they said that “challenging” trading conditions had caused “significant pressures.”
The industry is awaiting clarification from from the Regulator on what will happen to projects where Assent was the notified approval body.
Following the announcement that Assent Building Compliance will cease trading, Neil Boothroyd, a construction dispute resolution specialist at built environment consultancy Gateley Vinden, commented:
“News that Assent Building Compliance and its operations, including the two Registered Building Control Approvers under its banner (Oculus Building Consultancy and LB Building Control), is entering insolvency will have a very significant ripple effect on the progress of a number of ongoing developments.
“There will be several Higher-Risk Building projects that will have to stop works and will likely suffer considerable delays while alternative inspection arrangements can be put in place to process the relevant building control approvals in line with the Building Safety Act 2022.
“As a result, many projects may need to go through an extended approval process which will have a detrimental impact and place increased strain on the Building Safety Regulator system which is already under intense scrutiny for the severe backlog and delays to project approvals.”