From 1 July 2026, Wales will switch on new building safety powers that change how councils and builders handle non‑compliant work. The Welsh Ministers have made the Building Safety Act 2022 (Commencement No. 6) (Wales) Regulations 2025, the sixth set under the Act, signed in mid‑December and now listed by Legislation.gov.uk. The package activates compliance and stop notices, strengthens criminal penalties, and introduces three‑year lapses for unused building control approvals.

In plain terms, building control authorities in Wales will be able to order fixes and, where needed, halt work that is going up against the rules. Compliance notices require problems to be put right; stop notices can pause works where there is serious risk or ongoing non‑compliance. The detail sits in the Building Act 1984 as amended by the 2022 Act, and these powers will now fully apply in Wales from July.

Penalties are tightening too. Breaching building regulations can carry up to two years’ imprisonment on indictment, with fines also available on both summary conviction and indictment. The time limit for local authorities to require removal or alteration of offending work extends from 12 months to 10 years, a significant shift for owners and contractors alike.

Approvals won’t sit on the shelf indefinitely. Once the Welsh provisions bite, building control approvals will lapse after three years if work hasn’t started, and on multi‑building sites the rule can bite building‑by‑building. Teams with older consents should review start dates and programme risk well ahead of July.

There’s also a new backstop if decisions stall or standards slip. If a building control authority misses prescribed decision deadlines for certain applications, developers can ask Welsh Ministers to determine the application. And if an authority’s performance risks safety, Welsh Ministers gain powers to transfer functions to themselves or another authority by order.

Wales is taking a local‑authority‑led route for high‑risk buildings. In Welsh law, the “building control authority” is the regulator only in specific cases; otherwise it is the local authority designated for the job. That means enforcement of the new notices sits with councils in Wales, not private firms. Registered Building Control Approvers (RBCAs) will continue to carry out private building control work but must escalate non‑compliance to the relevant authority.

For councils, the next six months are about readiness: update enforcement procedures, train inspectors against Wales’s Operational Standards Rules, and make sure case management can handle compliance and stop notices and longer enforcement windows. Welsh Government has already set professional rules and monitoring expectations for building control.

For contractors and developers-especially North West firms delivering across the border in Wrexham, Flintshire and along the Deeside corridor-the headline is simple: plan against three‑year lapses, allow for stop‑work risk in contract terms, and check your building control partner is properly registered. Wales brought in the RBCA regime from 1 January 2025 and uses the Building Safety Regulator’s national registration.

Cross‑border teams should also clock the timing difference. Much of England’s regime went live in 2023–24, while Wales has staged elements and is now locking in a 1 July 2026 start for these enforcement powers. Expect clients with portfolios on both sides of the border to press for a single compliance playbook that meets the stricter timings.

Bottom line for Northern readers working in Wales: the rules are getting sharper, and the clock is ticking. Map any approvals approaching three years, build contingency for compliance and stop notices into programmes, and brief site teams now so July doesn’t catch anyone out.