Gateway 2 submissions explained
What architects must have ready for a building control approval application to the Building Safety Regulator: the document set, the 12-week period, why submissions fail, and how change control carries through to Gateway 3.
What is Gateway 2?
Gateway 2 is the building control approval application that must be made to, and approved by, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before any building work starts on a higher-risk building in England. To pass, it must show that the design complies with the Building Regulations and that the client has competent dutyholders and workable procedures to keep it compliant during construction.
The gateway regime was introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 and came into force on 1 October 2023 through the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/909). Full plans applications and building notices do not apply to higher-risk building work. Gateway 2 replaces them, and the BSR assesses management arrangements and competence as well as design compliance.
Planning gateway one sits with the planning application. Gateways 2 and 3 are decided by the BSR, and the documents approved at Gateway 2 are the baseline that construction and completion are measured against.
The BSR is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings (HRBs) in England. Since 27 January 2026 it has been a standalone non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, having previously sat within the Health and Safety Executive. For the design and construction phase, an HRB is at least 18 metres high or has at least 7 storeys, and contains at least two residential units or is a hospital or care home.
The client is legally responsible for the application and must make sure approval is granted before work starts. The client can nominate someone, often the principal designer or a consultant, to submit and manage it, but must then sign a statement confirming agreement to the application and that its contents are correct.
What must a Gateway 2 application contain?
Regulation 4 of SI 2023/909 sets out the contents for a new HRB. The application gives contact details for the client, principal designer and principal contractor, and describes the work: the intended use of the building and each storey, height and number of storeys, the number of flats, residential rooms and commercial units, and when the work will be regarded as commenced.
It must be accompanied by:
- A site plan at a scale of at least 1:1250, showing the building in relation to boundaries, other buildings in the curtilage and adjoining streets.
- Other plans needed to show compliance with the Building Regulations.
- A competence declaration, signed by the client, confirming reasonable steps were taken to check the principal designer and principal contractor are competent, and recording any serious sanctions in the last five years.
- A construction control plan, setting out how compliance will be achieved and evidenced during construction, who is responsible for what, and how "as built" evidence will be captured for Gateway 3.
- A change control plan, setting out how changes will be classified, decided, assessed and recorded.
- A mandatory occurrence reporting plan, describing the reporting systems the principal designer and principal contractor will run for structural and fire safety risks.
- A Building Regulations compliance statement, explaining for each element of the work which functional requirements apply, which guidance, standards or codes are followed and why that approach achieves compliance.
- A fire and emergency file, covering means of escape and warning, internal and external fire spread, access and facilities for the fire service, and how the building will be managed for evacuation.
- A partial completion strategy, if any part of the building will be occupied before the whole is complete.
- A signed client statement, if someone else submits on the client's behalf.
Design information
Where architects usually own or heavily contribute. These documents most directly test the design.
Management and dutyholders
How competence, construction, change and reporting will be controlled once work starts.
The BSR assesses both halves. A strong design pack does not rescue weak control plans, and the reverse is also true.
For work to an existing HRB, regulation 12 applies instead. Category A work needs broadly the same document set; Category B work needs plans and, where Part B applies, a fire safety compliance statement. The BSR's guidance, updated on 1 April 2026, added remediation work to the Category A list and warns that applying under the wrong category is likely to lead to rejection.
Where the architect's work shows up
The compliance statement is the document that most directly tests design information. The BSR's guidance on preparing applications says it should explain the approach for each element of the work, why that approach was chosen, and point the reader to the relevant drawings. A generic statement that "the design complies with Approved Document B" will not do that job.
How long does the BSR have to decide?
Regulation 5 of SI 2023/909 requires the regulator to decide a valid application for a new HRB within 12 weeks of receipt, or a longer period agreed in writing. For work to an existing HRB, regulation 13 sets 8 weeks, again extendable by written agreement.
In practice, decisions have taken longer. The BSR's published data for April to June 2026 shows a median approval time of 22 weeks for new HRBs and conversions, with an 89% approval rate across 37 decisions in that quarter. Its strategic plan for 2026 to 2027, published on 31 March 2026, targets a response to non-complex new build Gateway 2 applications in 18 weeks or less by the end of March 2027.
The median for new HRBs and conversions in April to June 2026 was nearly double the 12-week period, and the BSR's own target for March 2027 is still longer than the statute.
For programme planning, treat the statutory period as a minimum, not a forecast.
Work cannot start while the application is being assessed. Starting higher-risk building work without building control approval is a criminal offence.
Why are Gateway 2 applications rejected?
Regulation 7(1) allows the regulator to refuse an application that does not comply with regulation 4, is not detailed enough to allow a decision, shows the work would contravene the Building Regulations, or sets out procedures that would breach the change control, golden thread, mandatory occurrence reporting or Part 2A dutyholder requirements.
The BSR has described the problems it sees most often:
- Missing basic information at validation stage.
- Structural (Part A) gaps, such as undescribed key connections, no explanation of how disproportionate collapse is prevented, or unclear support for stairs and balconies.
- Unevidenced fire performance of cladding, walls or cavity barriers, and missing fire barrier details on external walls.
- Poorly designed or unproven smoke control, including a design that would draw smoke from a flat into an escape stair.
- Escape and detection issues, such as corridors too narrow for full evacuation and flats with heat detection only.
- Sprinkler layouts with gaps or inadequate water supply.
The BSR also warns against uploading a construction phase health and safety plan (a CDM 2015 document) in place of a construction control plan, and asks for clearly labelled drawings with a reference file listing each document.
Practical checks before you submit
- Every claim in the compliance statement is cross-checked against a drawing or specification clause that proves it.
- The specification and the fire strategy describe the same products and performance classes.
- Contractor's design portions are resolved far enough to show compliance, or a staged application is used.
- A dated record shows design decisions and who made them, so the change control plan reflects how the team actually works.
- The construction control plan is a real control plan, not a CDM construction phase plan.
- Drawings are clearly labelled and listed in a reference file.
Staged applications and change control
Gateway 2 can be submitted in stages, and once approved its documents become the "agreed documents". From then on, changes to them fall under change control.
The BSR's guidance allows staged applications for single and multiple tower projects, with detailed plans submitted for each stage before work on that stage begins. No work may start on a stage until it is approved, and the BSR asks applicants to contact it before submitting a staged application for multiple towers. It can also grant "approval with requirements", which lets work start on approved parts while specified parts wait for further information or revised plans.
The BSR's guidance on making changes to an HRB project, last updated on 1 October 2026, splits changes into three types.
- 01
Major change
Needs BSR approval before related work starts. Includes storeys, external walls, structure, stairs or escape routes, unit numbers, or a product with lower reaction-to-fire performance.
Up to 6 weeks to assess - 02
Notifiable change
Must be notified before the change is made, but can proceed once submitted. Since 1 October 2026 this includes Building Safety Levy information such as unit numbers and gross internal areas.
Notify, then proceed - 03
Other controlled change
Recorded in the change control log rather than sent to the BSR first.
Log kept by principal contractor
The tier depends on what the change affects, not on how small it looks on a drawing or schedule.
This is where specification discipline matters. A product substitution that looks minor on a schedule can be a major change if it lowers reaction-to-fire performance. Like-for-like or higher-performing substitutions are usually recorded in the change control log, but may still be notifiable if they affect compliance.
How Gateway 2 connects to Gateway 3
At completion, the client applies to the BSR for a completion certificate. Regulation 41 gives the regulator 8 weeks to decide, or longer by written agreement, and a residential HRB must then be registered before it is occupied.
Under regulation 40 of SI 2023/909, the completion certificate application must include:
- Updated agreed documents
- The Gateway 2 documents as amended through change control during construction.
- Change control log
- The record of changes made since approval.
- Compliance declarations
- Signed by the principal designer and the principal contractor.
- Handover statement
- Confirmation that building information has been handed over.
Gateway 3 therefore depends on the record kept since Gateway 2, which is hard to reconstruct after the event.
Where Avoice fits
Gateway 2 rewards a compliance statement that points to evidence, and Gateway 3 rewards a record kept at the time. Both are hard to assemble from email at the end.
Avoice's Building Regs Tracker links each design element to the requirements it must meet and the evidence that shows it, which is the backbone of a compliance statement. Project Record keeps a dated log of documents and decisions, so change control and the eventual Gateway 3 submission rest on a record kept at the time rather than rebuilt later. Both feed a Golden Thread view and export inside the Compliance module.
Software can organise and flag. The client, the dutyholders and the BSR still decide whether the application and its evidence are adequate.
Build the Gateway 2 record as you design
Link every design element to its requirement and evidence, keep a dated decision log, and export a golden thread when the BSR asks for it.
This guide is for general education and is not professional advice. Check SI 2023/909 and the current BSR guidance on GOV.UK for your project before relying on any provision.