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Readiness Beyond The Response Timelines
Why organisational capability is the key to readiness for Awaab’s Law Phase 2.
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When Awaab's Law Phase 1 came into force, the sector responded with remarkable pace. Providers introduced new damp and mould processes, reviewed repair workflows, and invested in additional operational capacity and contractor networks.
Those changes were both necessary and important. However, the roll out of Phase 2 presents a very different challenge.
From November 2026, the scope of the legislation extends well beyond damp and mould to include a much broader range of hazards, bringing more teams, more specialist disciplines and significantly more organisational complexity into the statutory process. The question is no longer whether a provider can respond to a particular type of repair within the prescribed timescales. It is whether the organisation, as a whole, is equipped to do so consistently.
At first glance, this can appear to be another operational challenge. More hazards may require more surveyors, more contractors, additional processes or further investment in technology. But organisational readiness is rarely determined by any one of those factors in isolation.
The providers best positioned for Phase 2 are unlikely to be those that simply add more resource. They are more likely to be those that have aligned strategy, leadership, organisational structures, systems and workforce capability around a common objective. In other words, Phase 2 is as much a change management programme as it is a compliance programme.
The statutory process now extends well beyond the repairs function. A potential hazard may come to light through several routes, including a resident report, a routine inspection, contractor activity or another investigation. Once identified, responsibility frequently passes between multiple teams before the case is resolved. Organisational readiness therefore depends on maintaining continuity of information, ownership and decision making throughout the lifecycle of the case.
Technology undoubtedly has an important role to play. As organisations manage increasing numbers of statutory cases involving more hazards, more teams and more information, connected operational data can help maintain a consistent view of each case and give decision makers access to the information they need as responsibility moves across the organisation.
That said, technology can strengthen organisational capability, but it cannot create it. The foundations still depend on leadership, governance, clear operating models and a workforce equipped to apply them consistently.
That is why we developed our most recent guide: Roadmap to Readiness: Preparing for Awaab's Law Phase 2.
Rather than offering another compliance checklist, the guide takes a broader view of organisational readiness. Using the McKinsey 7S Framework, it examines the organisational capabilities that underpin successful implementation, from strategy and leadership to systems, workforce capability and organisational culture. It also provides a series of practical diagnostic questions to help providers assess their own readiness ahead of Phase 2.
