Coverage
MEP consultants in Manchester
MEP design for Manchester projects, to the Building Regulations 2010, with building control through Manchester City Council or a registered approver.
BUILDING CONTROL
The statutory route here
Manchester projects follow the Building Regulations 2010 and the Approved Documents, with approval through Manchester City Council building control or a registered building control approver.
Manchester has one of the highest concentrations of tall residential development outside London, which brings the Building Safety Act 2022 gateway regime into play on a substantial share of new projects. For higher-risk buildings — generally those at least 18 metres or seven storeys with two or more residential units — approval from the Building Safety Regulator is required before construction starts, and the design information required at Gateway 2 is considerably more developed than a conventional full plans submission.
For a higher-risk building the Regulator, not a private approver, is the building control body for the whole of the work. That removes the option of switching approver mid-project and it removes the informality: a change to the design after Gateway 2 may be a major change requiring the Regulator's approval before it is built, so late services coordination is no longer a matter between the design team and the contractor.
The boundary is the other thing to settle first. Manchester city centre stops at the River Irwell — Spinningfields is Manchester, the far bank at Salford Central is Salford City Council — and Greater Manchester is ten separate authorities, each its own building control body and its own local plan.
HOW WE WORK
The two questions that decide the shape of a Manchester residential project are asked in the first week: is it a higher-risk building, and if so, what does Gateway 2 need to contain.
The gateway regime moves design effort earlier. A services design that would conventionally firm up through Stage 4 and be coordinated on site has to be resolved and evidenced before construction starts, and the golden thread means the information has to be structured to be handed on rather than assembled at handover. That is a programme decision as much as a technical one, and it is cheaper to plan for than to discover.
Outside the residential towers, the recurring Manchester project is a warehouse or mill conversion in Ancoats, Castlefield or the Northern Quarter, where the constraint is what can be penetrated and where the risers can go — a survey question, not a design assumption.
AUTHORITIES
Local authorities in this area
QUESTIONS
Common questions
What is a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act?
A higher-risk building is generally one that is at least 18 metres in height or has at least seven storeys, and contains two or more residential units. Such buildings are subject to the gateway regime administered by the Building Safety Regulator, which requires approval before construction starts.
How does the gateway regime change MEP design on a Manchester tower?
It moves the design forward. Gateway 2 has to be satisfied before construction begins, so the services design, the fire strategy interfaces and the coordination that would conventionally be closed out during Stage 5 have to be resolved and evidenced first. After approval, a change classed as a major change needs the Regulator to agree it before it is built, which makes late substitutions and value engineering considerably more expensive than on a conventional project.
Which authority handles building control for a Manchester project?
Manchester City Council or a registered building control approver — unless it is a higher-risk building, in which case the Building Safety Regulator is the building control body and there is no choice. Confirm the boundary as well: the city centre is bounded by the River Irwell, so a site on the far bank is Salford, and Greater Manchester comprises ten separate authorities each with its own building control service.