Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason the final developer remediation contract does not use the definition of relevant defect in the Building Safety Act 2022 to define life-critical fire-safety defects.

The definition of 'Defect' in the developer remediation contract and the definition of 'Relevant Defect' in the Building Safety Act were drafted for different purposes.

The definition of 'Relevant Defect' in the Building Safety Act 2022 is used within the Act to cover a wide range of actors, defect types and circumstances. The definition of 'Defect' in the developer remediation contract was drafted to match the wording of a public pledge signed by 49 developers. Under the pledge and the contract which codifies the pledge commitments, developers specifically commit to addressing life-critical fire safety defects arising from works that were the developer's responsibility because they arise from the original design, construction or refurbishment of the building, and to do so in line with relevant standards.