Insolvency of Assent, LB and Oculus – what to do if your project is affected

On 6 November 2025, winding-up orders were made against Assent Building Control Compliance Limited (“Assent”) and its subsidiaries LB Building Control Limited  (“LB”) and Oculus Building Consultancy Limited (“Oculus”). 

The Official Receiver (“OR”) has been appointed as the liquidator and will wind-down the companies. The OR will investigate the companies’ affairs including probing into the conduct of current and former directors. 

A number of considerations arise for parties with have an impacted project in England.

Practicalities 

In accordance with the Building Act 1984, LB and Oculus have issued cancellation notices to customers on live projects. This has the effect of cancelling the initial notice to which it relates with effect from the day on which the notice is given. The cancellation notice will have been given to the person carrying out or intending to carry out the work as well as the local authority. 

The HSE has issued an operational notice for project owners in relation to Assent, LB and Oculus. In summary:

Non-higher-risk buildings

Following receipt of a cancellation notice, project owners have 7 days to appoint another registered building control approver (“RBCA”) unless the project was (i) already cancelled, or (ii) the initial notice expired before receipt of the cancellation notice.

The “new” RBCA must issue a new initial notice for the project within a period of 7 days from the cancellation of the original initial notice. If a “new” initial notice is not submitted in this timeframe, then the local authority will as the building control authority for the project. Where this happens, the person carrying out the work should notify the local authority that the project is going to revert to them (local authorities usually have instructions online for notifying them). The local authority may require the person carrying out the project or client to provide information and complete a reversion application form. 

Higher-risk buildings

All higher-risk building (“HRB”) projects revert the Building Safety Regulator (“BSR”). Once you have received a cancellation notice from a RBCA, the BSR automatically becomes the building control authority for the work described in the cancellation notice. The person carrying out the work must stop all work on site and, within 10 working days of the cancellation, give a notice including the prescribed information to the BSR. Work on site should not recommence until (i) a valid application for building control approval is deposited with the BSR, and (ii) the BSR has given notice that the application is valid (“the validation date”). 

Links to information 

If you have received a cancellation notice from Assent, LB or Oculus, this may have been accompanied by a link to access documentation. The Insolvency Service advises that this link will expire on 31 January 2026 and there is no guarantee that access to the documents will be available after the links expire. Please see this link here for more information. 

Closing thoughts

It is reported that there are at least 10 HRB projects affected by this development that will revert to the BSR. Insolvency of RBCAs was previously a contributing factor to the severe delays experienced at Gateway 2.

These additional projects should only increase the workload on the BSR by around 2.5%, and Andy Roe (BSR Chair) commented that there should not be any knock-on impact on the overall Gateway 2 work.

Nevertheless, for those HRB projects being transferred to the BSR, will likely experience significant delays in the period between the cancellation date and the validation date where no works can be undertaken. The preparation and submission of a Gateway 2 application is a substantial job and (currently) the BSR is still feeling the strain of the backlog of applications – whether or not that backlog is materially increased by the collapse of Assent, it is unlikely to make the BSR’s position any easier. As such, this development is a challenge for those involved with directly impacted development and for the BSR.

For further information please contact Bethany Penman or Will O’Brien.