![](https://emergencyservicestimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/ESS-Button-resized.png")
The Building Safety Regulator has confirmed that Dr Barbara Lane, a Fellow of engineering consultancy Arup, is to be the first independent chair of the Building Advisory Committee.
Calling the BAC a ‘force for good,’ Dr Lane said that taking on this role was part of her ongoing commitment to create a safe and equitable built environment. Dr Lane was an expert witness to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and is a Chartered Engineer with decades of experience working in fire safety.
The BAC is a statutory committee and was established as part of the post Grenfell Tower fire safety reforms that saw the creation of the Building Safety Regulator with powers under the Building Safety Act 2022. The predecessor committee under the Building Act 1984, the Building Regulations Advisory Committee for England – or BRAC as it was known – was abolished as part of the 2022 Act.
Dr Hywel Davies OBE is the Deputy Chair and has served on the BAC since its inception and is currently Head of Technical Insight at the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE). He previously chaired the Building Regulations Advisory Committee, from 2020 to 2023.
Announcing Dr Lane’s appointment, the Building Safety Regulator said that “the strategic direction of the BAC is being considered to ensure that it works in conjunction with BSR to deliver maximum impact.”
Leadership of the Building Safety Regulator changed last year when former London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Andy Roe, was appointed Chair with his former Deputy Charlie Pugsley moving into the CEO role.
To read similar articles, check out our Leadership channel.
