The RICS Podcast RICS Legal Landscapes: Passing Gateway 3 and maintaining the Golden Thread with Gary Strong FRICS, Graeme Manley MRICS and David Savage #232
This episode is part of RICS Legal Landscapes, a limited podcast series developed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which is CPD-compliant and designed to support professional development across the surveying profession and the broader built environment.
Gateway 3 is the final, mandatory checkpoint under the Building Safety Act 2022 for higher risk buildings (HRBs) in the UK
This episode of the RICS Legal Landscapes series dives into what Gateway 3 really means in practice, as both a regulatory hurdle and as a decisive moment of legal accountability, commercial viability and building safety.
Gary Strong FRICS is joined by building surveyor Graeme Manley MRICS and construction lawyer David Savage to unpack Gateway 3, why it’s often called the ‘point of no return’ for clients and duty holders, and what legal responsibilities arise if a building fails to secure a completion certificate.
This episode of The RICS Podcast covers:
- The role of Gateway 3 as the final pre‑occupation checkpoint for Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs)
- How responsibility and accountability crystallise at Gateway 3 for clients, principal designers and principal contractors
- The legal and commercial consequences of failing Gateway 3, including a range of criminal sanctions
- The importance of the ‘golden thread’ of information, accurate as-built records, change control, and digital systems
- Practical steps for surveyors, developers and building owners to plan for Gateway 3 from day one.
Building Safety Act information centre:
https://www.rics.org/news-insights/building-safety-act-information-centre
Gary Strong FRICS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-strong-bsc-hons-frics-fciarb-c-builde-fcabe-fcila-b52667b/
Graeme Manley MRICS
https://www.linkedin.com/in/graememanley/
David Savage
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjsavage/
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors:
RICS Podcast Page
Kieran Halliwell