Achieving Building Control approval in the Principal Designer role
Combining extensive experience, accredited expertise, and robust processes, we are effectively performing the role of Building Regulations Principal Designer on a number of healthcare projects, including higher-risk buildings, successfully achieving Building Control approval.
Accredited expertise
Two of our Associates, Frank Ellis and Kris Kaniewski, have completed the RIBA Principal Designer Course, an accredited course which equips delegates with an understanding of the skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours needed to meet the duties and standards of the Principal Designer role.
Together with Senior Architectural Technologist and experienced Principal Designer, Mark Hudson, they have disseminated this information throughout the practice through a series of knowledge share sessions to ensure that a consistent level of understanding is shared by our team of designers.
Frank Ellis - Associate
Kris Kaniewski - Associate
Mark Hudson - Senior Architectural Technologist
Extensive experience
Completion of the course provides evidence of a level of expertise which has formed over many years of experience delivering healthcare projects, finding solutions to a wide range of building safety challenges. This has enabled us to react confidently to changes to the Building Safety Act (2022), including the provision for higher-risk buildings to be subject to an enhanced regulatory regime during the design and construction phase.
As of July 2025, we are currently performing the role of Building Regulations Principal Designer — overseeing Building Control applications to the Building Safety Regulator — in 5 higher-risk building projects. 3 of these have received Gateway 2 approval, 1 of which is currently being assessed at Gateway 3.
Our experience in the process has enabled us to collaborate with clients and contractors to navigate the intricacies of each stage; our learnings from each application informing our approach to the next.
This is great news. Thank you for everyone’s diligence in getting these approvals signed off. It is very much appreciated.
Robust processes
We have developed a framework of procedures, templates, and tools to support our process, ensuring the steps that we take are diligent, and compliant with relevant quality standards. This includes a robust compliance schedule which demonstrates conformance with the Building Regulations in a single, easy to reference, document.
On each project we identify an expert for the Principal Designer role that is independent of the architectural team, enabling a clear separation of responsibilities and focus. We also have a dedicated in-house design manager, Phil Horan, who has previously worked directly for tier 1 contractors, bringing a wealth of construction insight that provides a vital link between the design team, the contractor and the client.
Phil Horan - Design Manager
Our Building Regulations Compliance Schedule is one of a number of tools and templates we use to manage the process diligently.
Ensuring success
In July 2025, the Building Safety Regulator published its first comprehensive set of approval data for the Building Control function for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) in England, noting a 70% rejection rate for the period (October 2023 to March 2025) across all applications. As a result, many projects will be experiencing delays due to protracted application processes. This demonstrates the value to a project team of a Building Regulations Principal Designer that has the experience, expertise and robust processes to safely navigate the process in an effective timeframe.
The minimal number of further information request issues is a testament to the quality of your application and the effort you have clearly invested — thank you.