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Section 120: Meaning of "relevant defect" and "relevant steps"

Building Safety Act 2022 · 2022 c. 30View on legislation.gov.uk

Part 5: Other provision about safety, standards etc

This section applies for the purposes of sections 122 to 124 and Schedule 8.

"Relevant defect", in relation to a building, means a defect as regards the building that—

arises as a result of anything done (or not done), or anything used (or not used), in connection with relevant works, and
causes a building safety risk.

In subsection (2) the reference to anything done (or not done) in connection with relevant works includes anything done (or not done) in the provision of professional services in connection with such works.

"Relevant steps", in relation to a relevant defect, means steps which have as their purpose—

preventing or reducing the likelihood of a fire or collapse of the building (or any part of it) occurring as a result of the relevant defect,
reducing the severity of any such incident, or
preventing or reducing harm to people in or about the building that could result from such an incident.

For the purposes of this section—

  • "building safety risk", in relation to a building, means a risk to the safety of people in or about the building arising from—the spread of fire, orthe collapse of the building or any part of it;

  • "conversion" means the conversion of the building for use (wholly or partly) for residential purposes;

  • "relevant landlord or management company" means a landlord under a lease of the building or any part of it or any person who is party to such a lease otherwise than as landlord or tenant.

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.