With construction keep watch over approvals at a file excessive, platforms like Procore can assist groups standardise and automate one of the maximum hard duties within the Gateway 2 submissions. Brett King explains how.
Gateway 2 is speedy changing into one of the vital painful pinch issues in UK development. With rejections pushing initiatives to the again of a rising queue, the price of getting it unsuitable is punishing – approval occasions have risen to twenty-five.1 weeks between January and March 2025.
The Development Protection Regulator’s July 2025 knowledge unearths a backlog and approval disaster. Between October 2023 and March 2025:
- Over 2,100 Gateway 2 packages have been submitted
- Just about part (1,019) are nonetheless looking forward to a call
- Of the ones reviewed, simply 31% were licensed
- For brand spanking new builds, the determine drops additional – most effective 23% secured approval
- In general, simply round 338 packages were licensed thus far
Alternatively, new perception from regulatory experts suggests a lifeline. As much as 55% of the Gateway 2 submission can now be standardised and automatic. That’s no longer only a marginal achieve – that’s a strategic benefit, particularly when the stakes come with multimillion-pound delays and stalled housing supply.
Rejection: the hidden value maximum don’t discuss
Graham Corder, building director at Steyn Staff, is aware of how unforgiving the method may also be. His workforce submitted a Gateway 2 software for a high-rise residential scheme – the old fashioned manner. A expert was once introduced in. 1000’s of paperwork have been compiled. However the software was once rejected.
“We concept we’d carried out the whole thing proper,” says Corder. “However the complexity simply crushed the method. One thing as small as a fireplace collar appearing the unsuitable measurement on a drawing can cause a rejection – and while you’re despatched to the again of the queue, that’s soul-destroying.”
And that queue isn’t any funny story. The typical wait time for Gateway 2 approvals is these days 25.1 weeks, with new construct packages taking a median of 36 weeks, 3 times the statutory 12-week time-frame, in step with BuildUK. Get rejected, and also you’re no longer simply resubmitting – you’re beginning over.
The business affect is actual. Some builders are actually redesigning constructions to sit down under the higher-risk construction (HRB) threshold, sacrificing treasured flooring house and housing numbers simply to steer clear of the Gateway 2 bottleneck. That’s no longer innovation: that’s survival mode.
The chance: 55% of the paintings may also be standardised
So the place’s the answer? In line with Joshua Waterman, a specialist at Development Protection Act Seek the advice of, a majority of the documentation required is repeatable and will have to by no means be constructed from scratch.
“We see the similar paperwork asked time and again,” Waterman explains. “Such things as exchange keep watch over processes, assessment procedures and development keep watch over plan. Those can all be templated and tailored. You don’t wish to reinvent the wheel each and every time.”
It’s no longer dissimilar to how contractors way challenge execution plans (PEPs) or high quality plans. There’s a core template – then you definitely layer in challenge specifics. The similar considering may also be implemented to Gateway 2.
This “standardisable 55%” normally covers:
- Documented assessment processes
- Exchange control workflows
- Roles and tasks
- High quality assurance procedures
Get those locked in – and you’ll assist tremendously scale back the chance of elementary mistakes, omissions, and preliminary validation disasters.
Gateway 2: the stats you want to understand
- Reasonable wait time between January and March 2025: 25.1 weeks
- Rejection = reset: resubmissions pass to the again of the queue
- Standardisable content material: 55% (in response to over 25 packages reviewed)
- Commonplace pitfalls: lacking assessment procedures, inconsistent exchange keep watch over, out of date drawings
- Prime-risk threshold: between 10–15 regulator queries normally results in rejection
Era’s position: smarter, no longer simply quicker
That also leaves 45% of the submission – the technical middle – together with compliance experiences, detailed designs and fireplace protection research. However even right here, generation performs a very important position.
Platforms like Procore act as a central hub for all drawings, revisions, and supporting proof. They monitor approvals, spotlight gaps and assist make sure that model keep watch over – so that you’re no longer stuck out via out of date information.
And via analysing traits from previous submissions, generation can begin to flag commonplace rejection issues in actual time. It’s proactive menace mitigation, no longer autopsy be apologetic about.
Even the preliminary validation exams, frequently a handbook, time-consuming workout, may also be computerized. Consider a gadget that scans your submission the instant you add it, highlighting lacking or incomplete sections prior to a human even seems at it.
“Shaving weeks off the validation segment by myself can be a game-changer,” says Steyn Staff’s Corder. “The clock begins ticking the instant you put up, and the rest that hurries up that early segment is value its weight in gold.”
Collaboration, no longer alternative
The purpose isn’t to switch human judgment: it’s to liberate execs to focal point the place they upload probably the most price.
The regulator is listening, and they’re construction capability, however the business has a job to play, too. Higher submissions assist everybody – they make it more uncomplicated for the regulator to do their process, they usually stay initiatives shifting.
As a substitute of treating Gateway 2 like a bureaucratic hoop to leap thru, it is a likelihood to professionalise the method and assist futureproof it.
Gateway 2 isn’t going away, and rightly so. It’s a cornerstone of the brand new protection regime. However it doesn’t must be a blocker.
Standardisation and virtual workflows be offering a confirmed path to quicker, extra constant submissions that assist scale back admin and rejections. Giving your groups extra time to spend designing and handing over constructions which might be secure, compliant, and on programme.
“This isn’t with reference to ticking containers,” Corder concludes. “It’s about construction higher. We will be able to’t stay depending on out of date processes. If we need to transfer ahead, tech and standardisation must be a part of the plan.”
Brett King is director of business transformation at Procore.
