David Hemming, a highly experienced Chartered Civil Engineer who heads the Estate and Major Programme area within the NHS Shared Business Services Consulting team, argues that the so-called ‘Golden Thread’ – a complete digital record of information about a building, from its design and construction, to its ongoing maintenance and use – ‘represents a fundamental cultural shift in how buildings are designed, constructed, and maintained’. He warns that failure to maintain an accurate, accessible, and up-to-date Golden Thread ‘is no longer merely poor practice – it represents serious corporate risk’.
The Building Safety Act 2022 marks a seismic shift in accountability, born from Grenfell's tragedy, demanding full lifecycle transparency for Higher-Risk Buildings — including hospitals. For the NHS, this isn't just an estates issue — it's a legal, moral, and patient safety imperative. The 'golden thread' of accurate, accessible building data must be maintained from concept through occupation. Senior leaders can no longer afford to overlook their personal and corporate responsibility for safe, compliant infrastructure.
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA22) was born from tragedy — an attempt to ensure that the systemic failures exposed by the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 are never repeated. Central to this new regime is the concept of the 'golden thread' of information: a continuous, structured, and digital record that captures key decisions, changes, safety-critical features, and compliance evidence across the lifecycle of a Higher-Risk Building (HRB).
For the NHS, responsible for managing some of the most complex, sensitive facilities in the UK, the arrival of the BSA22 presents both a critical challenge and an urgent call to action. Now, more than ever, healthcare organisations must place robust data management and safety compliance at the heart of both their maintenance and building programmes — not as an afterthought, but as a foundation of quality patient care, governance, and risk assurance.
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