What Building Control Wants to See in 2026

The new context for Building Control

From 2026, Building Control teams will be working under the full weight of the Building Safety Act, with greater accountability and scrutiny on approvals. Walls and shafts, often complex areas of the programme, will be examined more closely than ever before.

What Building Control wants to see is not assumptions but evidence. Traditional systems such as blockwork and plasterboard are difficult to verify, relying on site workmanship and partial test data. This creates uncertainty at inspection and adds risk to handover.

What Building Control values

There are three areas Building Control increasingly expects from walling and shaft systems:

• Certified test data: full-scale tests to BS EN 1364 and 1366, not extrapolations.
• A1-rated materials: the highest level of non-combustibility, meeting Approved Document B requirements.
• Documented installation: QA records that show exactly how the system was installed and by whom.

How Specwall and SpecShaft simplify inspection

Specwall A1 and A2 panels provide two hours’ fire resistance to BS EN 1364 and are A1 non-combustible. Panels are installed dry by an approved contractor with QA documentation, reducing reliance on multiple trades.

Specshaft is tested to BS EN 1366-1 and 1366-8. It delivers smoke containment performance under pressure, supported by full QA packs and PI-backed installation. This gives Building Control confidence at inspection and reduces risk of approval delays.

As Building Safety Act requirements tighten, Building Control will favour systems that make compliance visible and verifiable. Specwall and Specshaft provide exactly that, making inspections faster and approvals more secure.