Building Safety Act ‘Relevant Defect’ threshold: key lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
The First-tier Tribunal has ruled that any risk, however small, of fire spread or structural failure can constitute a “building safety risk” under s.120 of the Building Safety Act 2022, in a case concerning the 280-apartment Canary Riverside estate (Belgrave Court, Berkeley Tower, Eaton House and Hanover House). In applications for Remediation Orders and Remediation Contribution Orders over seven external wall systems, six were found to contain relevant defects, with reconstituted stone cladding the sole exception. The Tribunal prioritised current compliance with Building Regulations B3 and B4 and Approved Document B over historic regulatory compliance or PAS 9980 “low” risk ratings, finding missing or defective cavity barriers in masonry cavity walls with phenolic insulation (EWT1) to be a relevant defect.
Technical Brief
- FTT decision (LON/00BG/BSA/2024/0005, /009) was issued on 6 January 2026.
- Proceedings concerned seven distinct external wall systems across four residential towers at Canary Riverside.
- Secretary of State sought both Remediation Orders and Remediation Contribution Orders against four corporate respondents.
- Expert fire engineers for both sides agreed a building safety risk existed for three wall types.
- Dispute focused on four remaining wall types, requiring detailed expert evidence on fire spread and structural behaviour.
- Tribunal distinguished roles: s.120 defines existence of a relevant defect; PAS 9980 informs remediation necessity and extent.
Our Take
Within our 97 Policy stories, this is one of the few Building Safety Act 2022 pieces where a PAS 9980 FRAEW ‘low’ risk rating still coincides with multiple ‘relevant defects’, signalling that dutyholders in London high‑rise schemes cannot rely on qualitative fire‑risk scores alone to avoid liability.
The Vista Tower remediation contribution order of £13m with nearly 90 respondents, referenced alongside Canary Riverside, suggests that portfolio landlords and complex ownership structures (such as those involving Octagon Investments and Yianis Holdings in Canary Wharf) are now routinely being targeted for large, multi‑party recovery actions rather than issues being contained at individual building level.
With six of seven external wall systems at Canary Riverside found defective across four residential blocks, practitioners should expect that even mixed‑use estates in prime London locations (e.g. Westferry Circus and nearby Centre Point‑type assets) may face estate‑wide façade reviews, not just isolated cladding replacement on the most obviously at‑risk towers.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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