Assent Building Compliance has confirmed it will cease trading, days after emails warning of redundancies were sent out to employees
Assent were reportedly facing several damages claims from both clients and contractors, originally stemming from the parent company failing to register as an approved building inspector with the Building Safety Regulator(BSR), which then led to several planning approval delays.
Industry voices have raised concerns that some projects may now be forced to restart the approval process.
In a statement, the Wakefield-based building compliance specialist said:
“Assent has ceased trading and is in the process of entering insolvency. Details of the appointed insolvency practitioners will be published on our website in due course.”
Per legal requirements, Assent has issued cancellation notices on all projects.
Two of Assent’s companies, Oculus Building Consultancy Ltd and LB Building Control Ltd, are registered building-control approvers (RBCAs), employing around 69 building inspectors between them. This is likely to exacerbate the existing building control approval backlog besmirching the BSR, who last projected pending approvals to be cleared by the end of January 2026.
A spokesperson for the Building Safety Regulator commented:
“Assent Building Compliance Ltd has made BSR aware of issues affecting their future operations, which includes two Registered Building Control Approvers, Oculus Building Consultancy Ltd and LB Building Control Ltd.
“We are in active discussions on the impact on their ongoing registered building control service provision as well as the Registered Building Inspector resource provided to BSR through our supplier framework.”
An “acute cashflow crisis” led to the insolvency
In an email sent to Assent’s 71 employees in late October, the board of directors explained they had been “seeking professional advice to explore all rescue options available” after facing an “acute cashflow crisis”.
“We have been in dialogue with the regulator and other government bodies but despite tireless efforts a rescue solution has not been reached to date,” the email continued. “It is […] with great regret that we will be unable to pay you after 31 October 2025, and therefore your role is at risk of redundancy.”
The post BSR compliance specialists Assent to cease trading appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
