Construction Law Update: Phased By BCAR?

It is now over a year since the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 came into force, and building industry players by now should be fully engaged with the compliance, inspection and certification regime enacted. 

By way of re-cap, the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 ("BCAR") introduced a range of measures affecting applicable developments¹ at the commencement, construction and completion stages, with implications for owners, builders, designers and certifiers as the lines of responsibility for design, construction and assessment of works were formalised. 

An emerging issue arising out of the BCAR's enactment, which has caused uncertainty on some commercial developments, concerns the concept of phased completion.  The BCAR does contemplate a phased completion linked to a single commencement notice occurring, and states: "A Certificate of Compliance on Completion may refer to works, buildings, including areas within a building,