The Building Safety Act – Key Information

The Building Safety Act represents a decisive piece of legislation that embodies a fundamental commitment to safeguarding and establishes stricter regulations for Higher Risk Buildings to abide by. The Act provides a comprehensive framework for the Principal Accountable Persons to register Higher Risk Buildings and record key building information.

Principal Accountable Person

The Principal Accountable Person (PAP) is usually an organisation, like a commonhold association, local authority or social housing provider. In some cases, an individual can be the PAP, such as the owner of the building. In circumstances where the building has more than one accountable person, the responsibility passes onto the individual who is accountable for the external walls and structure of the building.

Duty Holders

Key duty holders, under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, Client, Principal Designer (PD) and Principal Contractor (PC); have additional duties pursuant to The Building Safety Act. These include:

• Client – appoint competent persons as per Flex 8670 standards; define the Golden Thread; ensure the PD and PC establish and operate a Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) system; ensure PD and PC establish and operate an effective Change Control Process; register the building with the Regulator.
• Principal Designer – ensure the design would meet the functional requirements of the Building Regulations; review the Construction Control Plan; establish and operate a MOR system including reporting MORs to the regulator; establish and operate an effective Change Control Process including reporting of change to the regulator; demonstrate competency under BS 8671.
• Principal Contractor – ensure the building works meet the functional requirements of the Building Regulations; establish and operate an MOR system in conjunction with the PD; establish and operate an effective Change Control Process in conjunction with the PD; demonstrate competency under BS 8672; manage the Golden Thread during construction.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require further information on duty holders’ roles and responsibilities.

Higher Risk Buildings

Higher Risk Buildings are residential developments (with two or more residential units) which are at least 18m in height or have at least seven floors (ground plus six above ground). The Act applies to buildings such as care homes, hospitals and student accommodation (hotels are an exception).

Necessary Action

The PAP is legally required to register all Higher Risk buildings with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) by Sunday 1st October 2023. After this, building owners will be given a period of time to submit a Building Safety Case. Key building information must be recorded within 28 days of registering the building. These pieces of information must be inputted onto the Government registration portal.

Key building information that must be recorded includes the following:

• Key Building Information – number of units, number of dwellings, height in metres
• Details of construction – type of structure, materials used, balconies
• The year the building was originally built
• Fire prevention and fire protection installations including fire strategy
• Services installations
• Changes or alterations since original construction
• Details of resident profile, and information relevant to safety risks
• A building resident engagement strategy
• Mandatory occurrence and complaints reporting arrangements
• Details on servicing, management and maintenance regimes and their implementation
• Evidence of the competency of those working on and managing the building
• Structure building risk assessment(s) and outcomes
• Details of the building safety management system.

It is required under the Act that this information should be held in a structured digital format, known as the Golden Thread, set out in the secondary legislation.

Building Safety Case Gap Analysis

The Act also requires the PAP to prepare a Building Safety Case Report. This must be submitted when applying for a Building Safety Certificate. The report must demonstrate how the building complies with the requirements of the Act, that the accountable persons have assessed all building safety risks and have taken the necessary steps to control any risks.

calfordseaden is currently undertaking gap analysis reports for occupied Higher Risk Buildings – these reports review available information against published requirements for a Building Safety Case. The reports act as a tool to identify the status of required documentation and planned actions to resolve any gaps and manage any risks.

We are also advising to our clients and developer partners that a similar gap analysis is undertaken for new build Higher Risk Buildings, which may have progressed into contract prior to the implementation of the Building Safety Act. The gap analysis can be created for projects that are nearing completion or in their rectification period, but will therefore still require Building Registration and Key Building Information to be submitted.

The analysis will be a useful assessment of the safety of buildings and aid PAPs in compiling the key building information and information for their Building Safety Case Report. This analysis is critical in helping your organisation to understand your gaps and this can extend to analysing current provisions for your Golden Thread. This is an area we specialise in implement and providing advice on.

Our team would be pleased to discuss the Building Safety Act and its implications further with you at any time and provide support to help you to meet your obligations under the Act. Please feel free to contact us to discuss any particular requirements that you may have.