Joe Fay, MCIOB MIoR MAPM, pre-construction compliance & building safety director at Starfish Construction, explains how early resident engagement mitigates project risk and aligns with the Golden Thread
THE technical complexities of facade remediation in Scotland’s residential sector are well documented. Over recent years, structural engineers, principal contractors, and fire safety experts have rigorously debated material specification, scaffolding dynamics, and non-combustible cladding alternatives. Yet, as the Scottish construction sector ramps up delivery under evolving building safety frameworks, one critical factor remains consistently underrated: the human factor.
In occupied multi-unit residential buildings, building safety is not delivered in a vacuum. It is executed around people’s homes. Neglecting resident and stakeholder engagement during a high-risk facade remediation project is more than a public relations oversight; it is a major operational risk that can increase the likelihood of delays, cost escalation, and fragmented safety compliance.
The scale of Scotland’s remediation challenge
To understand the necessity of robust resident engagement, it’s essential to first appreciate the sheer scale of the challenge in Scotland. Official estimates indicate that over a 15-year period, between 1,260 and 1,450 residential buildings over 11 metres in height may require work to alleviate external wall system (EWS) life-safety fire risks, with public funding and total capital spend ranging between £1.7 billion and £3.1 billion.
Policy and legislative momentum continue to accelerate. Following the launch of the Scottish Government’s Single Open Call under the Cladding Remediation Programme, nearly 2,000 expressions of interest were logged, generating significant demand for statutory Single Building Assessments. As major developers enter into the Scottish Developer Remediation Contract and the government signals moves to implement a mandatory Compliance Plan approach featuring a dedicated Compliance Plan Manager (CPM) for high-risk buildings, the Scottish sector faces an unprecedented pipeline of intrusive, complex remediation works.
Executing these works within occupied buildings demands a fundamental shift in how contractors view residents: moving them from passive bystanders to active partners in project delivery.
Operational risk and the occupied setting
When scaffolding rises around an occupied high-rise, daily routines are disrupted, access points shift, balconies are decommissioned, natural light is obscured, and noise levels spike. Without transparent communication, disruption quickly metastasizes into anxiety, frustration, and friction. For contractors, property factors and managing agents, gaps in early resident engagement can have direct operational consequences:
• Access delays: Where access requirements, notice periods or individual circumstances have not been identified and agreed sufficiently early, access to private balconies or other areas may be delayed. This can disrupt the planned construction sequence and increase programme and cost risk.
• Safety breaches: Where site boundaries, restricted areas or emergency arrangements have not been communicated clearly and accessibly, residents may be unaware of important safety requirements, increasing risk within the live project environment.
• Reputational damage & dispute friction: Escalated complaints consume hundreds of hours of management time, straining relationships between duty holders, property factors, and site teams.
At Starfish Construction, our experience across complex building envelope projects has led us to adopt a ‘Remediation Together’ philosophy. We recognise that clear, proactive communication is a core risk-mitigation tool that supports programme and cost certainty.
The Golden Thread: bridging technology and human engagement
Building safety legislation increasingly centres around establishing a robust ‘Golden Thread’ of building information — an accurate, digital audit trail of design intent, safety inspections, and material compliance. However, a Golden Thread that documents the physical structure while ignoring the operational realities of the occupants living inside it remains incomplete. To bridge this gap, Starfish Construction utilises project-tailored digital Resident and Stakeholder Hubs. These online portals provide secure, role-appropriate access to approved project information for residents, owners and leaseholders, as well as authorised professional and commercial stakeholders involved in delivery.
The Hub provides:
1. Interactive site plans: Clear visual representations detailing phased timelines, parking restrictions, site offices, and temporary muster points.
2. Transparent scope explanations: Non-technical breakdowns of why specific works are taking place, why balcony restrictions are necessary, and what safety measures are active.
3. Auditability: A clear, documented trail of all communications, updates, and notices, supporting duty holders in meeting strict compliance requirements.
4. Wider project visibility: Architects, building consultants, fire engineers, funders and their monitoring teams can access weekly progress updates and dated site photographs. This creates a shared view of delivery, supports more focused coordination and can reduce unnecessary routine visits, without replacing formal inspections or technical verification.
That approach was tested at St George’s Island in Manchester, one of the UK’s largest Building Safety Fund-supported remediation schemes. The 18-month programme covered five occupied residential blocks and more than 400 homes, with residents remaining in place throughout. The Resident and Stakeholder Hub was not simply a communications add-on: it gave residents a consistent source of information on the scope, phasing, timescales, safety measures and progress of the works, while providing direct access to the Resident Liaison Officer and project team.
Alongside the project’s formal compliance records, it supported transparent and traceable communication aligned with Building Safety Act and Golden Thread principles. Although delivered in Manchester under the English building safety regime, the operational lesson is directly relevant to Scotland. Those with a stake in a residential building do not necessarily live there: owners and leaseholders may be based elsewhere in the UK or overseas.
Secure, 24/7 access to current project information therefore extends engagement beyond the site boundary, helping occupants, remote owners, property factors, managing agents and duty holders work from the same approved information. When people understand why a restriction is required, what it affects and when it is expected to end, uncertainty reduces and cooperation is easier to maintain.
The on-site solution: the Resident Liaison Officer
While digital portals provide the foundation for transparency, technology alone cannot replace human empathy. On high-rise residential projects, the Resident Liaison Officer (RLO) is arguably as critical to project delivery as the site manager.
Acting as the dedicated bridge between site operations, property managers, and occupants, the RLO brings compliance principles to life. They host drop-in Q&A sessions, provide tailored support for vulnerable residents, manage immediate access logistics, and address minor grievances before they escalate into formal disputes.
Trust is built by understanding people’s needs and providing accessible, honest communication. When dedicated RLO engagement is supported by 24/7 online information, residents can become active partners in maintaining site safety, compliance and programme certainty.
Remediation as a collaborative partnership
Over the coming decade, the number of square metres of façade remediated across Scotland will tell only part of the story. Equally important is how safely, efficiently and respectfully those works are delivered.
By embedding resident and stakeholder engagement at every stage of the project and combining the transparency provided by digital Hubs with dedicated, empathetic RLOs, contractors can mitigate critical site risks, support the principles of the Golden Thread and help ensure that remediation is delivered with residents, rather than simply happening around them.
As Scotland’s remediation programme gathers pace, the industry’s success will be judged not only by the buildings it makes safer, but also by the trust it builds and maintains with the communities living within them. Resident and stakeholder engagement is not an optional extra; it is a critical component of safe and successful project delivery.
