NASC launches new Building Safety Act guidance for members

Following engagement with the government on the issue of the application of the Building Safety Act to scaffolding and temporary works, NASC is pleased to announce the launch of new guidance for members, PAG2:2026 Application of the Building Safety Act to Scaffolding and Access.

The new guidance, issued to all full NASC members today, is designed to help businesses respond consistently and accurately where questions about the Building Safety Act and Building Regulations arise, particularly during Build UK Common Assessment Standard (CAS) audits. It is accompanied by written confirmation from Samantha Dixon MBE, the then Minister for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), secured through NASC's ongoing conversation with the department.

What the Minister has confirmed

The government correspondence provides welcome clarity, confirming that, in the normal course of events:

• Access scaffolding is not normally "building work" as defined by the Building Regulations.
• Scaffolding erected to facilitate construction or inspection does not require Building Control approval before erection.
• The Building Safety Act 2022 did not change the legal definition of building work in respect of scaffolding.
• Scaffolding remains subject to its existing statutory duties, including the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and wider health and safety legislation.

Why the new guidance matters

The guidance addresses a real and immediate problem for members. Several questions in Section 7 of the Common Assessment Standard currently require scaffolding contractors to demonstrate arrangements or approvals that, for access scaffolding, are not required by legislation and, in many circumstances, simply cannot be achieved. In practice, this has meant competent contractors being assessed against requirements that do not exist in law, creating an impossible compliance position during CAS audits.

PAG2:2026 equips members to respond. Where Principal Contractors, Clients or Assessment Bodies insist on full completion of the Section 7 questions, members should respectfully challenge those requests and provide the MHCLG Ministerial letter, the new NASC guidance, and confirmation that NASC Full Members are independently audited and quality assured against the UK's leading technical, operational, business and health and safety standards for the scaffolding and access sector.

Members should make clear that compliance with legislation is demonstrated through recognised scaffolding-specific standards, competent management systems and independent NASC audit, rather than by seeking to apply Building Safety Act requirements that are not applicable to temporary works.

CAS to be revised from 1 November

Following discussions with NASC, Build UK has agreed to revise the Common Assessment Standard question set, particularly Section 7, to reflect the clarification provided by MHCLG and ensure the requirements align with the legislation.

An updated version of the Common Assessment Standard will be published on 1 November 2026. From that date, the competence-related questions currently in Section 7 will move to the Quality section, to be completed by all suppliers, and scaffolding and temporary works suppliers will no longer be required to complete Section 7 unless they undertake building work.

Until then, all suppliers going through the certification process will still have to complete the competence-related questions (135, 136 and 138), even if they are not required to complete the remaining duty holder questions in Section 7. The new guidance supports members through this interim period.

Clive Dickin, NASC and CISRS Group CEO, said: "This correspondence provides welcome clarity regarding the application of the Building Safety Act and Building Regulations to scaffolding and temporary works. Until now, several questions within the Common Assessment Standard have created an impossible compliance position, whereby competent contractors may be assessed against requirements that do not exist in law.

"We trust this guidance will provide members with confidence when responding to clients and assessment providers during this interim period and will support a consistent industry approach until the revised Common Assessment Standard is published."

NASC members can access the full guidance via the member portal here.