The Gateway Process and the Gateway 2 Hard Stop
- Paul Scanlon
- Jul 30
- 1 min read
On a higher-risk building, there is a hard legal stop before you can start construction. Many clients don't know it exists.
The Building Safety Act introduced a three-stage Gateway regime for higher-risk buildings.
Gateway 1 sits at planning. Gateway 2 sits before construction. Gateway 3 sits before occupation.
Gateway 2 is the one that catches programmes out.
Construction cannot legally begin until the Building Safety Regulator approves the Gateway 2 application.
This is not a notification or a courtesy submission. It is an approval — and the Regulator has a statutory period to assess it.
The Principal Contractor must comply with the full Gateway process. But the client sets the programme that assumes it.
Teams that treat Gateway 2 as a formality build a start date the law will not permit, then lose weeks waiting for approval they should have planned around.
On a higher-risk building, Gateway 2 is a hard stop. The programme has to be built backwards from it, not into it.
If you are developing a higher-risk building, has your programme been built around Gateway 2 approval — or through it?
Get your free Client Guide to CDM 2015 here: cdm2015.co.uk/resource-download
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