The Building Safety Regulator has launched a fresh recovery plan to cut long-running delays on higher-risk building cladding remediation schemes.

It includes setting up a new dedicated taskforce, lower caseloads and a promise to get average decision times below 12 weeks by December 2026.

This is still above the statutory milestone of 8 weeks but would be a major improvement on turnaround times for remediation applications.

Many contractors and housing providers have been stuck behind slow approvals on external wall and cladding safety jobs.

BSR said around 40% of live remediation applications are tied to government funding and admitted internal resource pressures and a backlog of weak or non-compliant submissions have slowed older, more complex cases.

Assessors have flagged missing fire test evidence, lack of structural loading calculations, weak thermal performance information, muddled document packs and as major causes of delay.

To clear the blockage, BSR is setting up a specialist external remediation multidisciplinary team modelled on its Innovation Unit, backed by dedicated account managers to handle applicant queries and free up regulatory leads for technical decisions.

It is also recruiting more staff to cut average caseloads from about 25 cases to around 10.

The regulator also plans to use “approval with requirements” more often, allowing some projects to start safely while outstanding technical points are resolved. More direct meetings with applicants, a published prioritisation system and improved digital tracking are also promised.

Lord Roe, BSR Board Chair, said: “We recognise current determination times for remediation cases are falling short of statutory targets.

‘This plan represents a targeted and achievable package of measures to reset the system and clear older legacy remediation cases.

“By doing so and then focusing on more recent applications, we can ensure high-rise residents see essential safety improvements they deserve without unnecessary or further delays.”

Monthly Gateway 2 transparency data will now include decisions under the remediation plan, with BSR aiming to bring live remediation caseloads down to 80 to 100 cases by 30 September 2026 and push approval rates above 65%.