The Gateway 2 application, step by step
A Gateway 2 application is the building control approval you must get from the Building Safety Regulator before starting construction of a higher-risk building. It bundles full design information, competence declarations and control plans. The fee is 195 pounds plus 156 pounds per hour per assessor, and the determination is 12 weeks for new builds.
What is a Gateway 2 application?
Gateway 2 is the hard stop before construction. For a higher-risk building you have to apply to the Building Safety Regulator for building control approval, and you cannot lawfully start building until you have it. It replaces the building control sign-off you would once have got from the local authority or an approved inspector, and it is a materially higher bar: the BSR expects a fully resolved, coordinated, evidenced design that demonstrates compliance with the Building Regulations, not a design you intend to finish during the build.
That shift is the whole game. The old habit of developing safety-critical detail on site does not survive contact with Gateway 2. If your design leans on a detail you have not resolved, resolve it before you submit, because the assessor will find it.
What must the Gateway 2 application contain?
The application is a bundle, and every part of it has to be present and credible. At its core it demonstrates that the design complies with the Building Regulations, but it also has to show that you have the people and the systems to keep it compliant through construction.
- Full plans and design information demonstrating Building Regulations compliance
- Competence declarations for the dutyholders
- A construction control plan
- A change control plan
- A mandatory occurrence reporting plan
- A fire and emergency file
- A Building Regulations compliance statement
- A signed client statement
Two things are worth stressing. The competence declarations are not a formality: the regime makes dutyholders declare that they are competent for the work they are taking on, and stand behind it. And the control plans matter as much as the design, because they are how the BSR judges whether your golden thread and your change control will hold up once you are on site.
What does Gateway 2 cost?
The fee has two parts: a flat application fee and an hourly charge for the assessors' time.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application fee | 195 pounds |
| Assessor time | 156 pounds per hour, per assessor |
The hourly element is the one to watch, because it scales with how much work your application makes for the regulator. A coordinated, complete, well-evidenced submission takes fewer assessor hours than one that generates rounds of queries, so quality at submission is not only faster, it is cheaper.
How long does a decision take?
The statutory determination periods are fixed, and they run from the point at which you have a valid application, not from the day you first upload something.
| Application type | Statutory determination |
|---|---|
| New build higher-risk building | 12 weeks |
| Work to an existing higher-risk building | 8 weeks |
Those are the legal targets. The lived reality has swung hard. By October 2025 the average was 43 weeks nationally and 48 weeks in London. After the BSR was reorganised and batching was introduced, decisions in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026 ran at a median of 12 to 14 weeks. The full picture, with the data behind it, is on the Gateway 2 timescales page.
What are the possible outcomes?
There are three, and only one of them lets you start on site cleanly.
- Approval: you can proceed, subject to giving notice before you start.
- Approval with requirements: you can proceed, but specific conditions attach that you must satisfy.
- Rejection: the application has not demonstrated compliance, and you must resolve the issues and resubmit.
If you are rejected, reference the previous application number on the resubmission, and fix the substance the BSR raised rather than resubmitting the same package with a covering note. A rejection is expensive in programme, so the economics all point towards getting the first submission right.
Can you start groundworks before full approval?
Yes, through a staged application. You can seek approval for the substructure and groundworks first, then submit the superstructure separately, which lets you break ground while the upper design is finalised. Since December 2025 this route has been open to single-tower higher-risk buildings, not just larger phased developments, which is a meaningful programme lever for a typical residential tower.
Staging is not a way to submit an unresolved design in instalments. Each stage still has to stand up on its own, and the change control discipline still applies across the whole. Used well, it recovers weeks of programme. Used as a way to defer design decisions, it just moves the rejection risk downstream.
What do you do once you are approved?
Give notice. You must notify the BSR at least 5 working days before you start the approved work. From that point you are in the construction phase, where change control governs any deviation from the approved design, and where the golden thread you started at Gateway 2 has to be maintained all the way to the completion certificate. Getting Gateway 2 right is not the end of the regulator's involvement; it is the start of a controlled relationship that runs until Gateway 3.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does Gateway 2 take in 2026?
- The statutory determination period is 12 weeks for a new build and 8 weeks for work to an existing higher-risk building, running from a valid application. In practice, batched applications in the 12 weeks to 30 May 2026 ran at a median of 12 to 14 weeks, a sharp recovery from the October 2025 peak of 43 weeks nationally.
- What are the Gateway 2 fees?
- A Gateway 2 application costs 195 pounds to submit, plus 156 pounds per hour for each assessor's time spent on the application. Because the hourly element scales with the complexity of the scheme and the quality of the submission, a well-prepared application is cheaper as well as faster.
- What happens if Gateway 2 is rejected?
- You can resubmit, and you should reference the previous application number when you do. A rejection usually means the application was not adequate to demonstrate Building Regulations compliance, so the fix is to resolve the substance the BSR identified rather than simply resubmit the same package. The clock starts again on a valid resubmission.
- What is a staged application at Gateway 2?
- A staged application lets you get approval for part of the works, typically groundworks and substructure, so that construction can begin on those elements while the superstructure design is finalised and approved separately. Since December 2025 this has been available for single-tower higher-risk buildings, not just larger developments.
Related
This page is information, not legal advice. It is written and maintained by a practitioner, verified against primary sources on the date shown above, and corrected fast when the regime moves. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.