Building safety involves a lot of technical terms, names and abbreviations, some of which are defined by law, and the government has issued an ‘A to Z’ of commonly used terms, as well as other government and industry organisations involved in building safety.
GOV.UK writes:
Building safety involves a lot of technical terms, names and abbreviations, some of which are defined by law. This useful A to Z of commonly used terms, as well as other government and industry organisations involved in building safety, will help further explain their meaning. Links take you to further information and more specific definitions or guidance.
Some examples of terms defined include:
- Approved Documents
Guidance detailing ways to meet building regulations.
- Building Regulations
Technical and procedural requirements which persons undertaking building work must meet.
- Commonhold
Commonhold is an alternative to the long leasehold system. It allows you to own the freehold of individual flats, houses and non-residential units in a building or on an estate. Unlike leasehold, there is no limit on how long you can own the property for.
The rest of the building or estate which forms the commonhold is owned and managed jointly by the flat owners (referred to as unit-holders) through a commonhold association.
- Higher-Risk Building (HRB)
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) oversees and approves building work for higher-risk buildings. These are buildings that have at least:
7 storeys or are at least 18 metres high
2 residential units or are a hospital or a care home
A higher-risk building with at least 2 residential units must be registered with BSR before people live there.
- Refurbishment
The process of renovating or improving a building, which can also trigger building regulations.
