The Building Safety (Responsible Actors Scheme and Prohibitions) Regulations 2023

Eligibility: avoidance

12.—(1) In any assessment of a person’s eligibility to be a member of the scheme under these Regulations, the Secretary of State must disregard any steps taken by the person or by a member of their group after the date on which these Regulations were laid before Parliament where such steps were taken for the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, of the person avoiding being eligible for the scheme (“avoidance action”).

(2) Where—

(a) a person (“W”) has been wound up, and

(b) the Secretary of State concludes that—

(i) they were wound up as a result of avoidance action, and

(ii) they would have been eligible for the scheme but for such avoidance action,

the Secretary of State may direct that another person (“B”) in the group of which W was a member before being wound up, including a person which does not itself meet the criteria in regulation 7 or 8, is to be treated as eligible to join the scheme.

(3) The direction referred to in paragraph (2) must contain a statement that unless B complies with the conditions in paragraph (4), the Secretary of State must include the name of B, and the names of persons controlled by B, on the prohibitions list.

(4) Where B receives the direction referred to in paragraph (2), regulation 14(2) applies as though—

(a) B were the person referred to as F in that regulation; and

(b) the notice referred to in paragraph (2)(b) of that regulation were a notice that W would not have been eligible to join the scheme but for the avoidance action as a result of which W was wound up.