Wales has now set 1 July 2026 for a major step-up in building control enforcement, confirming a new wave of Building Safety Act powers will apply across the country. For contractors and developers working in North Wales-and for North West firms that regularly cross the border-this is the date to circle in the diary. The regulations are the sixth Welsh commencement of the 2022 Act.

From that date, councils in Wales will be able to issue compliance notices requiring problems to be fixed within a set period and stop notices to halt unsafe or non‑compliant work. Breaching either notice is a criminal offence with penalties up to two years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine. These powers sit in section 38 of the 2022 Act and mirror tools already used in England.

The Welsh switch‑on also completes section 39, which makes contravening building regulations itself a criminal offence and, crucially for developers, extends the time local authorities have to order defective work to be removed or altered from 12 months to 10 years under section 36(4) of the Building Act 1984. That longer look‑back significantly changes risk on schemes that stall or phase over time.

Approvals that sit on the shelf will no longer do so indefinitely. Section 36 introduces an automatic three‑year lapse for building control approval, initial notices and related certificates where work has not started. That rule is already familiar to teams operating in England and arrives in Wales next summer. Programmes and pre‑start funding gates will need to reflect it.

Where local timetables slip, there’s a new route to a decision. Section 37 allows applicants to ask the Welsh Ministers to determine certain higher‑risk building applications if a building control authority misses the statutory window. It is designed as a backstop rather than a first port of call, but it will matter for complex residential and mixed‑use projects.

There is also a safety net for performance. Section 45 confirms default powers for the national authority-Welsh Ministers in this case-to step in if a local authority persistently falls short of expected standards in exercising building control functions. It underlines that enforcement will be backed by escalation where necessary.

Wales is taking a different path to England on who runs higher‑risk building control. In Wales, local authorities are the building control authority for higher‑risk work; the UK Building Safety Regulator oversees the registration and conduct of inspectors but not Welsh local authority performance. Contractors used to England’s centralised model should clock this difference before mobilising teams.

Private sector building control also continues its shift. The Registered Building Control Approvers framework, in force since 1 January 2025, sets tighter rules on who can operate and how discipline and appeals work, with consequential changes synchronised to the wider regime. Supply chains that rely on private approvers should ensure paperwork and registrations are current.

For Northern firms active in Deeside, Wrexham or along the A55 corridor, the practical read‑across is clear. Build programmes should include contingency for compliance or stop notices, contract terms should allocate the risk of a three‑year approval lapse, and site teams will need clear evidence trails on dutyholder competence. The July go‑live in Wales follows a similar uplift already embedded in England, so most larger contractors will have playbooks ready-now they need applying to Welsh jobs.

The instrument bears the signature of Rebecca Evans MS, the Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for planning and building regulations, confirming the Welsh Government’s timetable. With the date fixed, councils and clients across North Wales have six months to prepare their processes, train teams and brief residents on what tougher enforcement will mean on live sites.