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BRIEFING
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2
Duty in Occupation

This briefing note explains the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Government’s proposals for secondary
legislation. The requirements of the Act will not change, although the dates for implementation may. The proposals indicate the
Government’s current thinking but may change. Readers should not assume that all proposals will become law. Readers should
also be aware that changes to timings and Government thinking could occur over the next 12 – 18 months. APS will endeavour to
update our Briefing Notes in line with changes. This briefing note has been prepared in conjunction with The Property Institute.
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation

Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Legislative program 3
Building Safety Regulator (BSR) 4
Statutory Committees 4
Enforcement officers 4
Compliance Notices 4
Fees and charges 4
Building Safety Act 2022 Part 4 4
Accountable Persons 5
Accountable Person 5
Principal Accountable Persons 5
Requirements before occupation 7
Building Registration 7
Building assessment certificate 8
Applications for building assessment certificates 8
Building assessment certificates 8
Duty to display building assessment certificate etc. 8
Assessment of Building Safety Risks 8
Building Safety Risk 8
Management of building safety risks 8
Prescribed Principles for Management of Building Safety Risks 8
Management arrangements 9
Safety management system 9
Emergency arrangements 9
Competence 9
Skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours 9
Competency Standards 9
The Safety case 9
Safety case report 10
Mandatory occurrence reporting system 10
Golden Thread 10
Responsibility 11
Relevance and proportionality 11
Contents – Handover of construction information 11
Contents – Information relating to the management during occupation 11
Storage and management 12
Provision of information etc on change in accountable person 12
Residents voice 13
Providing residents with building safety information 13
Requests for further information 13
Sharing information with the Client (building work) 13
Residents’ engagement strategy 14
Complaints procedure 14
Duties on residents and owners 14
Contravention notices 15
Court Orders 15
Access to premises 15
Further Information 16
Bibliography 16
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Introduction
On 14 June 2017, a fire broke out at
Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey residential
tower block in West Kensington, London.
Starting on the fourth floor, the fire quickly
spread throughout the building and
resulted in 72 fatalities.
Following the fire, the Government
asked Dame Judith Hackitt to lead an
independent review of Building Regulations
and fire safety. The review’s final report,
Building a Safer Future1, was published on
17 May 2018.
The review found that the current system
of building regulations and fire safety is not
fit for purpose and that a culture change is
required to support the delivery of buildings
that are safe, both now and in the future.
The Building Safety Act 20221(the Act):
• is intended to deliver the fundamental
reform of the building safety system
called for in Dame Judith Hackitt’s
Independent Review of Building
Regulations.
• acts as the vehicle for wider
improvements including changes to the
Architects Act 19978, the Housing Act
19969, provisions to establish a National
Regulator for Construction Products and
a New Homes Ombudsman.
• takes forward in Section 156 further
changes to the Regulatory Reform (Fire
Safety) Order 20053.
The objectives of the Act are to learn the
lessons from the Grenfell Tower fire and to
remedy the systemic issues identified by
Dame Judith Hackitt by strengthening the
whole regulatory system for building safety.
This Briefing Note explains the
requirements of Part 4 the Building Safety
Act 2022 which contains provisions about
the management of building safety risks as
regards occupied higher-risk buildings and
the Government’s proposals for secondary
legislation.
A higher-risk building is a building in
England that:
• is at least 18 metres in height or has at
least 7 storeys, and
• contains at least 2 residential units.
A building safety risk is a risk to the safety
of people in or about a building arising
from:
• the spread of fire;
• structural failure.
Summary
The Building Safety Act 20221 received
Royal Assent on the 28th April 2022.
Much of the Act requires secondary
legislation to bring the provisions into
force and many aspects of the regime
will be taken forward through secondary
legislation.
The Act’s provisions will extend and apply
in the main to England only.
Part 4 is concerned with management of
building safety risk in higher-risk residential
buildings in England when they are
occupied and defines and places duties on
the Accountable Person (the dutyholder in
occupation).
This guidance note explains the
requirements of the Building Safety Act
2022 [the Act] and the Government’s
proposals for secondary legislation.
The requirements of the Act will
not change, although the dates for
implementation may. The proposals
indicate the Governments’s thinks
at the time of publication but may
change. Readers should not assume
that all proposals will become law.
Readers should also be aware that
changes to timings and Government
thinking could occur over the next 12
to 18 months. APS will endeavour to
update this guidance note in line with
any changes as soon as possible after
we become aware of them.
The Department for Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities (DLUHC)
has recently completed a series of
consultations2 on regulations which
provide technical proposals to support
the law set out in the Building Safety
Act 2022.
The proposals provided further detail on
how the law will operate and be enforced.
The responses to these consultations
will be used to help develop the content
of regulations before they are laid in
Parliament
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation

Legislative program
The Building Safety Act 2022 [the Act] received Royal Assent
April
on the 28th April 2022. Planning Gateway 1 Introduced
2021
Much of the Act requires secondary legislation to bring the
provisions into force and many aspects of the regime will be
BSI Flex 8670, Built environment
taken forward through secondary legislation. Aug
Core criteria for building safety in
2021
competence frameworks published

28th
Building Safety Act 2022 Competency standards published
April
received Royal Assent PAS 8671 Principal Designer
2022

Consultation Secondary
July Competency standards published
Legislation
2022 PAS 8672 Principal Contractor
20th July to 12th October 2022

Competency standards published

Dec
Residents Panel established PAS 8673 Safety management
2022
in residential buildings

Mandatory registration of
April Additional powers for the
high-rise residential
2023 regulation of construction products
buildings starts

Building Advisory and BSA Section 156

Industry Competence Amendment of Fire Safety Order
Committee established

New requirements for construction

October HSE takes lead on technical
products to be safe / strengthened
2023 building standards
powers for national regulator

Building Regulation Building control inspectors

Competence and Dutyholder six month registration period
requirements come into force commences

Mandatory registration of
Accountable persons duties come
Building Inspectors and
into force for higher-risk buildings
Building Control (completed Oct 24)

Mandatory registration of
Gateways 2 and 3 come into
high-rise residential
force for higher-risk buildings
buildings ends

Golden Thread of Information

New regimes for building control Building safety regulator starts

April
inspectors competence and assessing safety cases and issuing
2024
building control body performance building assessment cetificates

March Building safety regulator reaches

2024 business as usual
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Building Safety Regulator
(BSR)
Part 2 of the Building Safety Act 2022
establishes the Health and Safety
Executive [HSE] as the Building Safety
Regulator [BSR].
The objectives of the regulator are to:
• provide assistance and encouragement
to:
o residents of higher-risk buildings,
o persons who have duties in relation to
Building Regulation compliance, and
o accountable persons.
so that they secure the safety of people
in or about higher-risk buildings by
managing the building safety risks
higher-risk buildings;
• keep safety and standards of buildings
under review; and
• facilitate improvement in competence of
industry and building inspectors.
The BSR will be allowed to charge fees and
recover charges from those it regulates in
relation to its functions.
Statutory Committees
The Act requires the BSR to establish and
maintain:
• a Building Advisory Committee to give
advice and information to them about
matters connected with any of their
functions.
• an Industry Competence Committee
[ICC] concerned with the competence of
persons in the built environment industry,
• a Residents Panel comprising residents
of higher-risk buildings to give advice
to them about matters connected with
their functions that relate to higher-risk
buildings.
The committees are current operating as
interim committees.
Enforcement officers
The Act allows the BSR to authorise
individuals so that they can exercise
specified powers to carry out ‘relevant
building functions’ on behalf of the BSR
including enforcement-related functions.
 
Compliance Notices
The Act will permit the Regulator may give
a compliance notice to an accountable
person for a higher-risk building who
appears to the regulator to have
contravened, be contravening or be likely
to contravene a relevant requirement.
A ‘compliance notice’ is:
• a notice requiring the relevant person to
take specified steps within a specified
period, or
• a notice requiring the relevant person to
remedy the contravention or the matters
giving rise to it within a specified period.
Where it appears to the regulator that the
contravention has placed or will place
people in or about the building in imminent
danger the regulator may issue an ‘urgent
action notice’.
Fees and charges
The BSR will be allowed to charge fees and
recover charges from those it regulates in
relation to its functions.
The Government have consulted on the
Building Safety (Fees) Regulations [2022]
Regulations and charging scheme. The
consultation closed on the 7th Oct 2022.
The consultation responses are being
considered ahead of the regulations being
table in parliament. This guidance sets
out the consultation proposals and may
change.
BSR will seek to recover the costs for
chargeable functions as:
• a fixed fee; and/or
• a charge for the costs of BSR’s
regulatory effort (hours worked) and any
additional costs for any relevant authority
or third-party support that was required.
The fees and charges set out in the
charging scheme will be charged to the:
• client: the person for whom a project is
carried out;
• principal accountable person/
accountable person: the duty holders in
the occupation phase;
• applicant: for either the registration
of building control approvers/ building
inspectors or for a review of a decision of
the regulator (BSR);
• building control professions: The
relevant building control bodies or
building control professional;
• appellant: the person/body appealing
against a decision of a local authority or
registered building approver; and
• regulated party: The party against
whom any enforcement action is taken
by BSR.
The proposed Building Safety (Fees
and Charges) Regulations will be made
in exercise of the powers conferred by
sections 15(4) and 28 of the Building Safety
Act 2022 and section 105B of the Building
Act 1984.
The proposed regulations set out
provisions in relation to fees and charges
of the building safety regulator. The
chargeable functions include:
• the determination of a building control
approval application;
• the inspection and testing of:
o any work to which building regulations
are applicable; or
o a building on which such work has
been, is being or will be carried out,
to ensure that the work is or would
be compliant with the applicable
requirements of building regulations;
• the determination of a change control
application;
• the determination of a completion
certificate application or a partial
completion certificate application;
• the determination of an application for
registration of a higher-risk building;
• the determination of an application for a
building assessment certificate;
• the review of a safety case report.
• any action taken by the regulator with a
view to or in connection with securing
compliance with a building enactment;
• any action taken by the regulator with
a view to or in connection with the
imposition of a sanction in respect of a
contravention of a building; and
• the conduct of an appeal against
decisions or actions of a local authority
or registered building control approver.
Building Safety Act 2022 Part 4
Part 4 of the Act contains provisions about
the management of building safety risks in
occupied higher-risk buildings.
A higher-risk building is a building in
England that:
• is at least 18 metres in height or has at
least 7 storeys, and
• contains at least 2 residential units.
A higher-risk building is “occupied” if there
are residents of more than one residential
unit in the building.
A building safety risk is a risk to the safety
of people in or about a building arising from
any of the following occurring as regards
the building:
(a) the spread of fire;
(b) structural failure;
(c) any other prescribed matter.
There are current no other prescribed
matters.
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Accountable Persons
The accountable person [AP] is the
dutyholder during occupation of higher-
risk buildings. They may be an individual,
partnership or corporate body and there
may be more than one accountable person
for a building.
Where there are multiple accountable
persons in a building, one of them will be
identified as the lead accountable person,
known as the principal accountable person
[PAP].
There will be a duty on accountable and
responsible persons, who are the primary
duty holder under the Regulatory Reform
(Fire Safety) Order 20053, in a building to
cooperate with each other and with the
principal accountable person.
It will be an offence backed by enforcement
not to cooperate.
Accountable Person
This section provides a summary
of the definition of an accountable
person. You are advised to read the full
definition which is set out in Section
72 of the Act before attempting to
identify the accountable person for any
particular building.
An accountable person [AP] for a higher-
risk building is:
• a person who holds a legal estate in
possession in any part of the common
parts (subject to the exclusions below);
or
• a person who does not hold a legal
estate in any part of the building but who
is under a relevant repairing obligation in
relation to any part of the common parts.
A person (“the estate owner”) who holds a
legal estate in possession in the common
parts of a higher-risk building, or any part
of them (“the relevant common parts”), is
not an accountable person if:
• each long lease of which the estate
owner is lessor provides that a particular
person, who does not hold a legal estate
in any part of the building, is under a
relevant repairing obligation in relation to
all of the relevant common parts; or
• all repairing obligations relating to the
relevant common parts which would
otherwise be obligations of the estate
owner are functions of an RTM company.
Where a higher-risk building is on
commonhold land, the commonhold
association is the accountable person for
the building for the purposes of this Part.
The common parts are:
• the structure and exterior of the building,
except so far as included in a demise
of a single dwelling or of premises to be
occupied for the purposes of a business,
or
• any part of the building provided for
the use, benefit and enjoyment of the
residents of more than one residential
unit (whether alone or with other
persons);
A person is under a relevant repairing
obligation in relation to anything if the
person is required, under a lease or
by virtue of an enactment, to repair or
maintain that thing.
Principal Accountable Persons
This section provides a summary
of the definition of a principal
accountable person [PAP]. You are
advised to read the full definition which
is set out in Section 73 of the Act
before attempting to identify the AP for
any particular building.
A principal accountable person is:
• in relation to a building with one
accountable person, that person;
• in relation to a building with more
than one accountable person, the
accountable person who:
o holds a legal estate in possession in
the relevant parts of the structure and
exterior of the building, or
o is an accountable person because of a
relevant repairing obligation in relation
to the relevant parts of the structure
and exterior of the building.
Building Safety Director
The Government included provisions in
Section 111 of the Act to enable resident-
led organisations who are APs to appoint
a professional director to support them in
meeting their duties under Part 4 of the
Act. Resident-led organisations include
resident management companies (RMCs)
and right to manage companies (RTM
companies).
The Government are currently consulting2
on the secondary legislation that will
implement Section 111. The following
guidance is based upon the information
contained in the consultation but may
change.
To ensure that resident-led organisations
continue to be empowered to manage
their buildings and mitigate against the
new regime acting as a deterrent to such
organisations, the Act includes an option
for resident-led organisations to appoint
a person with relevant expertise to their
board to support them with their Part 4
building safety duties. As such, provisions
in the Building Safety Act 2022 and any
subsequent regulations made will have
retrospective effect.
Section 112 (30E) of the Building Safety
Act 2022 amends the Landlord Tenant
Act 1985 by implying terms in leases so
that the costs of the appointment of a
building safety director can be recoverable
as a service charge under the lease. This
enables RMCs and RTM companies to
recover monies to cover the cost of the
appointment of a director appointed for a
building safety purpose whatever the terms
of the lease.
Section 161(4) of the Building Safety Act
2022 provides that where a RMC or RTM
company appoints a paid building safety
director, all unpaid officers of the company
will be relieved of their personal criminal
liability for any offences committed under
Part 4.
Under the proposed legislation a building
safety director is a person appointed
specifically for the purpose of supporting
the RMC or RTM company in complying
with its duties under Part 4 of the Building
Safety Act 2022 or under regulations made
under that Part. The extent of remuneration
recoverable for such an appointment from
leaseholders is limited to this extent only.
Eligibility of an RMC building safety
director
Leaseholders will be protected as much
as possible from circumstances where
a building safety director’s judgment,
decisions, or actions when carrying out
their roles may be compromised due to a
conflict of interest.
It is proposed that regulations will amend
articles of association for an RMC by
setting out the eligibility of a building safety
director to be appointed for a building
safety purpose to a RMC to be any person
who:
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
a. is willing to act as a director; and
b. is permitted by law to do so; and
c. has declared all conflicts of interest.
The RMC must consider the following when
considering the eligibility of a professional
building safety director to determine if there
is a likely conflict of interest. This includes
whether the proposed building safety
director:
a. is likely to make a financial gain (other
than any agreed remuneration for
holding the position) at the expense of
the RMC
b. has an interest in the outcome of
the service or advice provided to the
RMC or of a transaction carried out on
behalf of the RMC, which is distinct
from the interests of RMC
c. has a financial or other incentive to
favour the interest of another client or
group of clients over the interests of
the RMC
d. receives or will receive from a person
other than the RMC an inducement in
relation to a service or advice provided
to the RMC, in the form of monies,
goods or services
Eligibility of an RTM building safety
director
The model articles of association for RTM
companies include provisions enabling any
person who is willing to act as a director
(and not barred from doing so by law) to be
eligible for appointment as a director.
The Government propose to amend the
model articles to also include provisions
which will align with our eligibility criteria
set out above for RMCs, namely by:
a. ensuring that the proposed building
safety director to be appointed by
an RTM company has declared all
conflicts of interest; and
b. placing an obligation on RTM
companies to also consider any
conflicts as set out above for RMCs as
a minimum
Notification prior to the appointment of
a building safety director
It is proposed that regulations will amend
articles of association for a RMC and
RTM company by setting out a 28-day
notification process which means that
prior to any appointment of a building
safety director being made, the RMC or
RTM must provide leaseholders with the
following information:
• the name of the proposed building safety
director
• the description of the role of the building
safety director will be carrying out and
their relevant experience that enables
them to effectively carry out the role
• the reasons for considering such an
appointment to be necessary
• the proposed remuneration of the
building safety director
• the intended duration of the agreement
• the intended method of appointing the
building safety director (e.g. by decision
of directors or ordinary resolution)
• setting out that each leaseholder has 14-
days from the date of the notice in which
to make written observations, specifying
where they should be sent, and by what
date;
• any connection (apart from the proposed
agreement) between the building safety
director and the RMC/RTM company or
any other party to the lease
• any of the building safety director’s
declared conflicts of interest and a
statement from the company about the
outcome of the internal conflict check
• the leaseholder’s estimated contribution
towards the remuneration of the building
safety director
• how the building safety director can be
removed
Within 14-days after the written observation
period closes, the RTM or RMC will provide
a summary of any observations received
and a response to those observations.
RMCs and RTMs decision to appoint a
building safety director
The model articles of association for Right
to Manage (RTM) companies include a
provision enabling the appointment of
a director by ordinary resolution or by a
decision of the directors.
It is proposed that regulations will amend
articles of association for an RMC to
align with the position of RTM companies
namely by setting out that a building safety
director may be appointed to support the
company in complying with its duties as
an accountable person under Part 4 as
defined by section 111 of the Building
Safety Act by:
a. ordinary resolution; or
b. a decision of the directors
Remuneration of a RMC building safety
director
Through section 112 of the Building Safety
Act 2022, the Landlord and Tenant Act
1985 has been amended by implying
terms in leases so that the costs of the
appointment of building safety director can
be recoverable as a service charge under
the lease. This enables RMCs and RTM
companies to recover monies to cover
the cost of the appointment of a director
appointed for a building safety purpose
whatever the terms of the lease.
However, articles of association for an
RMC can vary widely and may not allow
the RMC to remunerate the building safety
director.
It is therefore proposed that regulations will
amend the articles of association for an
RMC to include provisions that will enable
the remuneration of a building safety
director to be determined by either:
• a decision of the directors; or
• with the consent of the company in
general meeting by way of ordinary
resolution.
Remuneration of a RMC building safety
director
The model articles of association for RTM
companies already include a provision
enabling the remuneration of directors
with the consent of the company given by
ordinary resolution in a general meeting.
The Government propose to amend the
model article to fully align RTM companies
with our proposals for RMCs by also
enabling the remuneration of a building
safety director to be determined by a
decision of the directors.
Removal of an appointed building safety
director
Section 168 of the Companies Act 2006
already enables the removal of directors
through ordinary resolution. This resolution
may be passed by a ‘simple majority’ of
members, meaning that the votes ‘for’
must equate to more than 50% of the total
votes cast by each member’s voting rights.
Passing resolutions for some RMCs and
RTM companies can be challenging for
a number of reasons including members
disengagement with taking building
management decisions. This may make it,
in some cases, excessively burdensome
to remove directors before the end of their
planned term.
The Government propose to amend articles
of association to enable the removal of a
building safety director by majority decision
at a meeting of the directors or when all
eligible directors indicate to each other
by any means that they share a common
view on a matter. This will be in addition
to the already available provision for
removal of a director by ordinary resolution
that is available under section 168 of the
Companies Act 2006.
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Requirements before
occupation
Where a higher-risk building is constructed;
additional residential units are created in
such a building; or works to a building that
cause it to become a higher-risk building, a
Building Regulations completion certificate
must be issued before any new residential
unit is occupied by a resident.
Building Registration
Although the Building Safety Act 2021
[the Act] has become law, the duties it
describes, in Part 4 of the Act, for the
management of building safety risks as
regards occupied higher-risk buildings
[HRB], have not come into force yet.
Section 77 of the Act, when it comes into
force, will require the PAP to:
• ensure that a new HRB which is
fully or partially completed, after the
commencement of, is not occupied
before it is registered with the building
safety regulator; and
• to register an existing occupied HRB,
within a reasonable period after the
regulations are signed and published.
To register an HRB, the PAP must provide
some basic details about the building and
its accountable person(s). The information
provided is intended to enable the BSR
to confirm the location of the HRB and
identify the persons responsible for the
safety of the building and the complying
with the duties under part 4 of the Act.
It will be an offence not to register an HRB
in accordance with the requirements of the,
as yet unpublished, secondary legislation.
Registration of a new building
In respect of any new HRB which
is partly or fully completed after the
commencement of section 77 of the Act,
the building (or the completed part(s) of it)
must not be occupied before the building
has been registered. This include an HRB
that is designed and constructed under the
new building control regime for HRBs (the
gateways process) and HRBs that are part
way through design and construction when
the regulations relating to the new building
control regime come into force.
Registration of existing occupied buildings
For existing occupied HRBs, the PAP
will have a reasonable period after the
regulations are signed and published
to register their building(s) before they
become liable for the offence.
Fees
A fee will be payable to register an HRB.
The fees have not yet been set out by the
BSR.
Timescale for registration
Although the secondary legislation that
sets out the detailed requirements has not
been tabled in parliament, the BSR2 have
stated on their website that the registration
of existing buildings is expected to begin in
April 2023.
It is currently proposed that the PAP for a
HRB must register their buildings with the
BSR by 1 October 2023.
This would mean that PAP will have 6
months, from when the regulations are
proposed to come into force, to submit
their applications to register their buildings.
The Government have recently consulted
on whether 6 months is sufficient time
for the PAP to provide the information to
register their building, so the deadline may
change.
Process for registration
It is proposed that a PAP may designate
an agent to submit an application on their
behalf, providing that when the application
is submitted the agent confirms they have
the authority to make it. If appointed the
agent will act as the point of contact for the
BSR in connection with the application.
The agent will also have to confirm the
accuracy of the contents of the application
on behalf of the principal accountable
person. The PAP and the agent must
understand that knowingly or recklessly
providing false or misleading information to
the BSR is an offence.
Register of HRBs
Under section 78 of the Act, the BSR is
required to publish a register of the higher-
risk buildings that have been registered,
which may include the information which
was submitted with the application. The
Government believe that including this
information in the published register will
enable residents and other interested
parties to ascertain the building is
registered and who is responsible for its fire
and structural safety.
Secondary legislation will set out the
content of the register.
Registration information
Secondary legislation will set out the
notification rules and information that is to
accompany applications for registration.
It is currently proposed that in order to
apply to register a building, the applicant
will need to provide the BSR with:
• details of the PAP for the building
and any other AP(s) (including name,
contact details and address) and, if
there are multiple accountable persons,
confirmation of who is responsible for
which part of the building;
• the name and title of a nominated
individual who will act as a single point
of contact for the principal accountable
person within the organisation;
• whether the PAP is a local authority,
a registered private provider of social
housing, a registered provider of social
housing, or another type of organisation;
• the building’s address;
• the year the building was completed, or
the age band of the building where its
precise age is not known, and whether
on construction it had relevant building
control consent;
• the number of storeys and height (in
metres) of the building;
• the number of dwellings in the building;
• for existing buildings, confirmation from
the PAP as to whether to their knowledge
the building met the appropriate building
standards applying at the time of
completion;
• for new buildings subject to the
transitional arrangements, a copy of the
completion certificate or final certificate;
• for new buildings subject to the new
regime the buildings unique reference
number; and
• a statement confirming that the
information submitted is, to the best of
the applicant’s knowledge, truthful and
accurate.
The Government are currently consulting
on whether this information is sufficient.
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Building assessment certificate
Where the building safety regulator directs
the PAP to apply for a building assessment
certificate for their building they must make
the application 28 days of the direction
being given.
Applications for building assessment
certificates
An application for a for building
assessment certificates must be
accompanied by:
• a copy of the most recent safety case
report for the building;
• prescribed information about the
mandatory occurrence reporting system
operated by the PAP;
• prescribed information demonstrating
compliance by each AP for the building
with their duties; and
• a copy of any residents’ engagement
strategy.
Secondary legislation will set out the
rules about prescribed information to be
provided to the building safety regulator
when applying for a building assessment
certificate.
Building assessment certificates
Where, having been directed to do so by
the building safety regulator, the principal
accountable person applies for a building
assessment certificate in relation to the
building that has been registered, the
BSR must assess whether the relevant
duties are being complied with (and may
inspect the building in connection with that
assessment).
A relevant duty means an AP’s duty under
the Act, or under prescribed regulations
made under the Act, and includes any of
the following:
• section 83 (duty to assess building safety
risks);
• section 84 (management of building
safety risks);
• section 85 (duties relating to safety case
report);
• section 87(5) (duties relating to
mandatory occurrence reporting system);
• section 89 (provision of information to
regulator, residents etc);
• section 91 (duty to produce a residents’
engagement strategy).
The BSR must:
• give a building assessment certificate if
satisfied that all relevant duties are being
complied with;
• if not satisfied, refuse the application and
notify the principal accountable person
of the refusal.
If the BSR considers that a contravention
of a relevant duty can be remedied
promptly:
• they may give a notice to the PAP
containing a brief description of the
contravention and specifying a period for
remedying the contravention; and
• where it does so, and the contravention
is remedied within that period, may give
a building assessment certificate (instead
of refusing the application).
Where an application for a building
assessment certificate is refused, an
appeal can be made against the decision
to the First-tier Tribunal.
It is currently proposed that assessment
will be requested at least every 5 years,
although the building safety regulator may
conduct an assessment at any time.
Further details of the requirements for
building assessment certificates will be
proved in secondary legislation.
Duty to display building assessment
certificate etc.
The PAP must ensure that the following
are displayed together, in a conspicuous
position in the building:
• a notice containing information about
APs for the building;
• the most recent building assessment
certificate relating to the building;
• any compliance notice issued to an AP
by the BSR.
It is currently proposed the the information
to be displayed in the notice about APs
must include:
• the current details of the name and
address of every AP for the building;
• if any address is not in the United
Kingdom, an address – not including
a PO Box - in England or Wales for
correspondence and receipt of notices;
• contact telephone numbers and e-mail
addresses of the accountable persons;
• where the building has more than one
accountable person, which of the
accountable persons is the principal
accountable person; and
• which parts of the building each of the
accountable person is responsible.
It is currently proposed that the principal
accountable person must provide a
physical address (not a PO box address)
in England and Wales for themselves,
and an address or addresses for all other
accountable person(s) of the building.
Assessment of
Building Safety Risks
Each AP must, as soon as reasonably
practicable after the building is occupied,
or the time they become an accountable
person for the building, undertake a
assessment of the building safety risks, for
the part of the building for which they are
responsible, that suitable and sufficient to
enable them to comply with their duties
under Act.
Further assessments must be made:
• at regular intervals,
• at any time that the accountable person
has reason to suspect that the current
assessment is no longer valid, and
• at the direction of the building safety
regulator.
Building Safety Risk
Building safety risk means a risk to the
safety of people in or about a building
arising from any of the following occurring
as regards the building:
(a) the spread of fire;
(b) structural failure;
(c) any other prescribed matter.
There are currently no other prescribed
matters.
Management of building safety risks
Section 84(1) of the Act requires an AP to
take all reasonable steps, , for the part of
the building for which they are responsible,
to:
• prevent a building safety risk
materialising; and
• reduce the severity of any incident
resulting from such a risk materialising.
The steps may, in particular, involve
carrying out works.
Prescribed Principles for Management
of Building Safety Risks
The Act requires that APs act in
accordance with prescribed principles
when meeting their duty to manage
building safety risks.
The prescribed principals will be set out
in secondary legislation The proposed
principals are as follows:
• Avoid incidents involving building safety
risks;
• Assess and evaluate building safety
risks;
• Prioritise safety features which combat
risks at source;
• Inspect, test and maintain safety
features;
9
APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
• Ensure risks are assessed and
managed by people with the right skills,
knowledge, experience and behaviours;
• Prioritise collective safety features;
• Adopt new technologies;
• Replace dangerous features for those
that are less dangerous;
• Ensure residents’ voices are heard; and
• Provide clear instructions and
information to employees and
contractors.
Although ordered from the most to least
effective, the principles should not be
considered in isolation, many of them
interact and are mutually supportive. For
example, a safety feature which combats
risks at source may provide collective
safety and may need to be tested and
maintained over time to remain effective.
Relying on a single prevention or mitigation
measure will not provide the multiple layers
of protection necessary.
Management arrangements
Section 84(5) of the Act requires an AP
to make and give effect to arrangements
for the purpose of ensuring the effective
planning, organisation, control, monitoring
and review of steps taken to manage
building safety risks.
The Act creates an ongoing duty on APs
to ensure their safety arrangements are
kept under review and maintained to
remain effective. This systemic approach
to delivering appropriate inspecting,
testing and maintenance of the safety
arrangements is often included as part of a
wider safety management system.
A rounded safety management system will
include policies, practices and procedures
which ensure those with roles relating
to the assessment and management of
building safety risks have the necessary
competence required to carry out the tasks
assigned to them.
Policies and procedures in the safety
management system which relate to how
changes are managed in a building may
be of particular importance, for example
when building work or other refurbishment
projects are being carried out at a high-rise
residential building.
Safety management system
For risk assessments to remain valid,
and safety arrangements kept in good
condition and full working order, principal
accountable persons and accountable
persons are required by the new regime to
have systems, processes and policies in
place which deliver the effective planning,
organisation, control, monitoring and
review of all the measures in place. This
is to prevent an incident involving building
safety risks materialising and to limit the
impact should one occur.
The foundation for delivering this approach
is to apply a safety management system.
There will be no set standard for
management systems, however
BS9997 Fire risk management systems
– Requirements with guidance for use
may be useful when setting up a suitable
system.
Emergency arrangements
Emergency arrangements will need to
consider the residents within the building.
Residents must be provided with sufficient
information to ensure they are aware of
how they are expected to respond in
certain scenarios – and this information
should be provided as part of the
principal accountable person’s Residents’
Engagement Strategy.
Competence
Skills, knowledge, experience and
behaviours
It is proposed that one of the prescribed
principals for managing building safety risk
that is to be set out in secondary legislation
is to:
“ensure risks are assessed and managed
by people with the right skills, knowledge,
experience and behaviours.”
Building safety risks cannot be effectively
managed unless those involved in the
delivery can be assured to possess the
required skills, knowledge, experience and
behaviours.
Closely linked to ensuring individuals are
competent to carry out the tasks required
of them, ensuring employees are given
appropriate instructions and information
is an important element of successful risk
management activities.
Competency Standards
The government has been working with the
British Standards Institution (BSI) to create
a suite of national competence standards
for duty holders.
These include PAS 8673:2022 Built
environment – Competence requirements
for the management of safety in residential
buildings – Specification6 which came into
effect on the 31st July 2022.
PAS 8673:2022 sets out a competence
framework to support APs and others in
managing building safety risks.
The PAS is intended to apply to both
organisations and to individuals, especially
those overseeing the implementation of
the arrangements to assess and manage
building safety risk
The minimum competence requirements
within the PAS are intended to be
interpreted in the context of the functions,
activities and tasks relevant to the
management of safety in residential
buildings.
Overseeing the arrangements to manage
building safety risks is a highly important
role and requires an effective safety
management system to be evaluated and
implemented or managed. Any person,
including where part of an organization,
who undertakes this overseeing role is,
therefore, expected to have the relevant
skills, knowledge and experience,
combined with appropriate behaviours
as set out in Table 1 of BSI Flex 8670
v3.0:2021-04 Built environment. Core
criteria for building safety in competence
frameworks. Code of practice5.
The Safety Case
The safety case is all the information the
PAP and APs will use to manage:
• the risk of fire spread;
• the structural safety of your building.
The BSR has published guidance on Safety
cases and safety case reports7 to help
those who will have duties under the Act to
get ready for the new regime and manage
risks effectively.
The information is designed to help those
who will have duties under the Act to
prepare for the new regime. They contain
information and advice on what the BSR is
likely to need in any submission.
The guidance covers:
• Building Information
• Identifying building safety risks
• Risk prevention and protection
information
• Safety management systems
• Safety case report
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Safety case report
Section 85(1) of the Act requires the PAP
to, as soon as reasonably practicable after
the building is occupied, or the time they
become the PAP for the building, prepare a
safety case report containing:
• any assessment of the building safety
risks by each accountable person for the
building, and
• a brief description of any steps taken
by each accountable person for the
building.
Within the safety case report it is necessary
to explain the emergency arrangements
and plans for the building.
The safety case report should provide a
summary of the relevant aspects of the
safety management system, explaining
why and how it contributes to keeping fire
and structural risks controlled to tolerable
levels.
A safety case report should be a written
document, which takes the reader through
a logical journey about the building, the
assessment of building safety risks, and
how those risks are being managed on an
ongoing basis.
The PAP must revise a safety case report if
they consider it necessary or appropriate to
do so following:
• any further assessment of building safety
made by an AP; or
• the taking of further steps by an AP for
the building.
Safety case reports, and the information
and evidence that supports them, must
be kept up to date – they are not one-off
exercises or only to be revisited when
an application for a building assessment
certificate is required.
Where there has been a change to the
assessments made of building safety
risks, or the steps taken to manage them,
the safety case report must be revised
to reflect the changes made. This is an
ongoing process.
Where the BSR asks the PAP to provide it
with a copy of the safety case report, the
principal accountable person must give a
copy of it to the building safety regulator as
soon as reasonably practicable.
The PAP must notify the BSR as soon as
reasonably practicable after preparing or
revising a safety case report.
The safety case report will need to be
stored in the golden thread and meet
certain digital requirements.
There will be secondary legislation that
details the content and form of safety case
reports.
Mandatory occurrence reporting system
Mandatory occurrence reporting will ensure
that the BSR is able to capture any risks
that could have a potential impact on
fire and structural safety and assess the
relevance of these risks to other buildings.
Section 87 of the Act requires:
• the PAP to establish and operate an
effective mandatory occurrence reporting
system which complies with prescribed
requirements; and
• an AP for an occupied higher-risk
building to, in prescribed circumstances,
give prescribed information to the
building safety regulator by the
prescribed time and in the specified way.
Mandatory occurrence reporting will
require the reporting of certain significant
fire and structural safety issues (‘safety
occurrences’) to the BSR.
It is currently proposed that a safety
occurrence is:
“an incident or situation relating to the
structural integrity or spread of fire of a
higher-risk building that meets the risk
condition.”
The “risk condition” is:
“use of the building without the incident
or situation being remedied, that would
be likely to present a risk of a significant
number of deaths, or serious injury, to a
significant number of people”.
When the PAP or an AP becomes aware of
a safety occurrence within the part of the
building for which they are responsible, it is
intended that they notify the BSR.
In addition, residents and other persons
may report incidences to the PAP or APs
which may transpire to be a reportable
safety occurrence. These will need to
be reported in turn by the accountable
person through the mandatory occurrence
reporting system.
Where the PAP or an AP becomes aware of
a safety occurrence, it is intended that they
notify the BSR of the safety occurrence as
soon as reasonably practicable and provide
the BSR with a written report containing
required information within 10 calendar
days of becoming aware of the occurrence.
It is proposed that the report includes the:
• date and time of the safety occurrence;
• address of the building at which the
safety occurrence happened;
• name and contact details of the principal
accountable person or the accountable
person making the report; and,
• details of the safety occurrence
(including the nature of the risk).
The building should have a single
mandatory occurrence reporting system,
which aligns with the other duties under the
occupation regime, forming the building’s
safety management process.
Information provided by a person in
accordance with the mandatory occurrence
reporting system is not admissible in
evidence against that person in criminal
proceedings except:
• in proceedings for an offence of provision
of false or misleading information to
regulator or failure to operate an effective
mandatory occurrence reporting system,
• in proceedings for an offence of
perverting the course of justice, or
• if in the proceedings:
o in giving evidence the person makes
a statement inconsistent with the
information, and
o evidence as to the information
that was provided is adduced, or a
question relating to it is asked, by or
on behalf of the person.
Further details of the requirements for
mandatory occurrence reporting system
will be proved in secondary legislation.
Golden Thread
Section 88 of the Act requires am AP to:
• keep prescribed information in
accordance with prescribed standards,
and
• so far as possible keep such information
up to date.
• where they do not hold prescribed
information or a copy of a prescribed
document, obtain it except where it is
not practicable to do so.
Further details of the requirements for
keeping information will be proved in
secondary legislation.
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Responsibility
The Government expect that the PAP
will always retain overall responsibility
for the golden thread. However, if there
are multiple APs, they are all individually
responsible for keeping information
about the part of the building which they
are responsible for in the golden thread.
Each AP will need to ensure that their
information is kept up to date.
It is proposed that if there are multiple APs
it will be the responsibility of the PAP to
ensure all APs can access and use the
golden thread.
Relevance and proportionality
All the information within the golden thread
should be the information and documents
required to identify, manage, and mitigate
building safety risks
It is equally important to ensure that only
relevant content is retained in the golden
thread. This is essential as otherwise
the golden thread could quickly become
unmanageable - having too much irrelevant
information and/or documentation could
undermine the purpose of the golden
thread as it could make it difficult to find
relevant information.
The BSR intends to provide guidance
to help the PAP and the APs identify the
information/copy documentation that is
relevant and should be retained in the
golden thread. It is important to note
that information may not always remain
relevant and that it is important information
and documents in the golden thread are
regularly reviewed.
Contents – Handover of construction
information
It is proposed that for buildings which have
been built under the new building control
regime (the gateways process), the client
should handover some of the information
developed through the new building control
regime to the PAP.
It is proposed that for a new building the
information that is handed over is:
• the information required to be submitted
to the Building Safety Regulator in a
completion certificate application (the
prescribed documents). The application
will include the following:
o Plans of the completed building work
o Construction Control Plan
o Change Control Plan
o Design and Build Approach Document
o Fire and Emergency File
o Compliance declarations
• the relevant information/evidence
required to support the prescribed
documents
• completion certificate issued by the
Building Safety Regulator under the
building regulations.
• any further information that is relevant to
the ongoing safety of the building and is
not covered by the material above – this
could include documents/information
required to be submitted to the Building
Safety Regulator at building control
approval stage, and information required
through the statutory change control
process during the construction phase.
We would expect that most information
would be covered in the bullets above.
It is proposed that once the information
is handed over, the PAP is responsible
for storing this information in the golden
thread.
Contents – Information relating to the
management during occupation
It is proposed that the PAP should store in
the golden thread:
• the information/documentation required
for registration and for the application for
a building assessment certificate;
• mandatory occurrence reports
• a copy of the information required under
the Fire Safety (England) Regulations
20224 in the secure information box
including:
o all responsible persons UK contact
details;
o the UK contact details of any other
person who has the facilities to and
is permitted to access the building
as the Responsible Person considers
appropriate;
o copies of the building’s floor plans
– which identify key fire-fighting
equipment; and,
o a single page block plan - which
identifies key fire-fighting equipment.
• the report of the design and materials
of external walls required under the Fire
Safety (England) Regulations 2022;
• information relating to resident voice
duties including:
o the residents’ engagement strategy;
o record of complaints;
o record of contravention notices
issued and any relevant information
connected with their use of
contravention notices; and
o information provided automatically to
residents.
• the safety case report and relevant
supporting information including:
o plans of the building as it currently is;
o as built plans of the building if these
are available and/or relevant to
building safety;
o full and current fire risk assessments;
o other relevant fire risk assessments
(i.e. previous fire risk assessments, if
they are available, should be stored if
they are relevant);
o details of preventive and
protective measures for spread of
fire and structural safety risks and
information on the management and
maintenance of these preventative and
protective measures;
o fire strategy for the building;
o fire evacuation and management plan
(if separate from the fire strategy);
o design intent if this is available. We are
aware that for many existing buildings
this is not possible but if the original
design intent of the building can be
identified then this should be stored
in the golden thread if it is relevant to
building safety;
o structural surveys/risk assessments/
reports if available, or assurance that a
full structural survey is not necessary;
o details of whether the building has
had a change of use together with the
previous use;
o details of the building’s construction
– this could include the primary load
bearing system (for example, pre-cast
planks on a steel frame), the stability
system (for example, concrete stair
core(s), building façade material etc.
o details of when the building was
built and relevant design codes
or standards applying to that
construction; and
o safety management system for the
building. This should include but is not
restricted to:
- the planned maintenance and
repairs schedules relevant to
managing building safety risks,
- outcome of building safety
inspection checks, and
- how assets and systems that are
relevant to building safety risks are
managed. Assets and systems could
include: smoke extraction fans; lifts
(in particular firefighting lifts); any
pressure systems on site; energy
sources and storage (natural gas,
hydrogen, solid state batteries, PV
cells); self-closing fire barriers. The
Building Safety Regulator intends to
provide more detailed examples of
assets and systems in guidance;
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
• information relating to notifiable building
work whether carried out through
building control application to the
Building Safety Regulator, a competent
person scheme or through third-
party certification (where the relevant
accountable person considers to be
relevant to ensuring building safety);
• a copy of the most up to date key
building information
Storage and management
To ensure that the PAP and APs have
information that is accessible, can be
quickly updated and handed over, the
golden thread has to be digital. It is
proposed that digital means information
and data that is stored and can be
transferred electronically.
It is expected that the golden thread will
comprise both:
• information and documents that reflect
the building at the present moment in
time and are kept continuously updated
to ensure that they remain accurate; and
• information/documents that accurately
reflects the building at a point in
time (a ‘snapshot’) in the past. Older
information/documents should only
be kept if they are relevant to either
complying with applicable building
regulations or managing building
safety as this relates to relevance and
proportionality.
It is proposed that the golden thread
should operate as a single point of truth
that is accessible by those who require
access. This means that all relevant people
working on the building can access the
same information even though they are
working on different systems/software/
platforms.
This means that the golden thread needs
to be interoperable - the information in
the golden thread needs to be able to be
exchanged and used on different software
systems whilst retaining its structured
format and ensuring that no information is
lost or distorted.
In addition, given the lifecycle of buildings it
is likely that in the future the golden thread
information will need to be transferred to
systems that have not been developed yet
but will be in use decades in the future.  The golden thread has to be secure from
In practice this means that people will be
able to update the information/documents
and that others can see these changes (in
a timely manner). This will avoid duplication
of information and the potential for error
through the creation of multiple versions of
the same document.
It is proposed that to meet the principles
of transferability, the principal accountable
person and accountable person(s) will need
to ensure that the following elements are
in place:  against untoward internal access, with
• an information management process
– which should set out the process or
steps that enables all those who need to
provide, access or modify information to
do so;
• all relevant persons (i.e., people who
need to use the information) understand
these processes and their responsibilities
around information and documents (i.e.
what they are responsible for creating,
commenting on, contributing to, clearing,
verifying, archiving); and are clear on
the process for developing documents/
information (i.e., processes around
creating, sharing, contributing, clearing,
verifying and archiving documents);  o navigate and find the relevant
• a digital solution which enables the
information management process to
work so that the information in the
golden thread can be shared, accessed
and updated by people using different
software platforms and based in different
organisations. This means the digital
solutions may be different for different
organisations; and
• a transfer plan which sets out how
information/documents will be
transferred throughout the building
lifecycle. This is needed because the
digital solutions used for designing a
building will not usually be the same as
those used when managing a building. It
is also possible that when a management
company changes, there will be a
change in the software or platform used.
It is proposed that transfer plan should set
out how:
• data/information in the golden thread
will retain its structured format (i.e.
the information should retain fidelity
with its original format – it should not
be changed or lose anything by being
transferred); and
• data/information remains accessible,
for example, that any files containing
data/information are still accessible and
useable following transfer.
unauthorised internal and external access.  ceases to be responsible for all or any
This means that the golden thread has
to have sufficient protocols in place to
control access to maintain the security
of the building/ local area/residents, and
to protect personal information. Having
a secure system means the principal
accountable person, accountable person(s)
and those working for them can use and
store sensitive information in the golden
thread.
A secure system means being protected
against external access (e.g. hacking) and
security mechanism and protocols.
It is proposed to require that the PAP and
the APs:
• do as much as is reasonably practicable
to ensure the golden thread is secure
and personal data is protected;
• It is proposed to require that the principal
accountable person and accountable
person(s) to keep information and/or a
copy of any documentation in such a
way as to ensure, so far as possible, that
relevant persons are able to:
o access the golden thread in a timely
manner; 
information within the golden thread;
and 
o access and use the information in a
form appropriate for their needs. 
It is proposed that in order to meet these
‘principles of accountability’ the PAP and
APs needs to ensure that: 
• there is a record in the golden thread of
who inputs information/documents into
the golden thread (this could be done
automatically as the system records
when documents are uploaded), or that
the information management strategy
makes clear who (this could be a role/s
or team/s rather than a named person) is
responsible for doing so;
• the golden thread records when
information/documents are changed/
updated, or that the information
management strategy sets how this will
be recorded;
• the information management system
sets out whether all, or only significant
changes are recorded, and the rationale
for this; and
• the information management strategy
sets out responsibilities for approving
changes when they are made.
Provision of information etc on change in
accountable person
Where an AP for a higher-risk building
part of the building they must give
the prescribed information to the new
accountable person.
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APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Residents voice
A central tenet of the new regime is to
ensure residents have a greater voice on
building safety decisions that impact them,
and they have opportunities to express
their views. The impact of decisions on
residents, both financially and in terms
of the disruption to their daily lives, is a
critical factor to consider when ensuring
proportionate steps are taken to manage
building safety risks.
Providing residents with building safety
information
It is proposed that secondary legislation,
made under section 89 of the Act, will
require each AP to provide residents in
their part of the building with the following
information:
• Measures to reduce the risk of fire and
ensure the structural integrity of the
building – this will include, for example,
a summary of the most recent fire risk
assessment, a summary of the measures
in place to mitigate the potential spread
of fire and any building structural safety
risks, information on how residents can
reduce the risk of fire, report a safety
issue and help the accountable person
manage building safety risks;
• Contact information for building safety
matters and a short explanation of
their role – this will include, for example,
the AP providing the information for the
PAP and any AP and the Responsible
Person under the Fire Safety Order; and,
• Information about residents’ rights
– for example a copy of the residents’
engagement strategy, the PAP’s
complaints policy, and a list of the further
information residents can request.
The information must be provided:
• when the building is first occupied;
• when a new resident moves in; or
• when the information becomes out of
date.
The AP must provide this information as
soon as reasonably practicable.
This information must be stored in the
golden thread of information.
Some information, such as contact details
for the AP, will also need to be displayed
prominently in the building.
Requests for further information
Section 92 of the Act requires an AP to, as
soon as reasonably practicable, give:
• a resident who is aged over 16; or
• an owner of a residential unit in the
building;
any prescribed information, or a copy of a
prescribed document, that they request.
Further details of the requirements for
the provision of further information will be
proved in secondary legislation.
It is currently proposed that residents
have the right to request the following
information:
• Measures to reduce the risk of fire and
ensure the structural integrity of the
building
o current and previous relevant fire
risk assessments for the higher-risk
building;
o the current safety case report, and
previous relevant safety case reports;
o any other information that forms
part of the information and evidence
compiled by the PAP or APs as
required to underpin the safety case
report;
o details as to how building safety
assets in the higher-risk building are
managed, the reasonable details of,
and the schedule for, any planned
maintenance and repairs of the
building and fire safety features;
o the outcome of any building safety
inspection checks for the higher-risk
building that have been undertaken;
o the fire safety strategy for the higher-
risk building;
o copies of structural assessments of
the higher-risk building;
o planned and historical changes to the
building which are relevant to building
safety risks;
o a risk register of fire hazards for the
building and how they are being
managed;
o any information required to be
provided to the resident as part of the
initial provision of information;
o all other building safety information
that the PAP or APs reasonably
considers should be provided to
residents on request so that:
- residents are able to play an active
role in building safety decisions as
part of the residents’ engagement
strategy;
- residents are able to play an active
role in the safety of their higher-risk
building; and,
- residents are able to fully understand
the building safety features of, and
building safety measures in place
for, the higher-risk building in which
they live;
• Information pertaining to residents’ rights
o previous residents’ engagement
strategies for the building;
o in higher-risk buildings where there is
more than AP, the PAP must be clearly
identified; and
o the records of the results of the
periodic review by the of the
appropriateness of the methods of
promoting participation under the
residents’ engagement strategy.
Where further information is requested,
the PAP or the relevant AP will not have
to provide this information where they
reasonably believe: the information may
have an adverse impact on:
• the security of the building, the residents,
or other buildings in the vicinity or the
local area; and
• individual residents through the release
of personal information about them.
Sharing information with the Client
(building work)
The client for the building work will need to
have access to relevant information about
the building. For building work carried
out in an existing building, the PAP or an
AP may be the same person/entity as the
client. However, in some instances another
person may have commissioned the work
such as a resident.
It is proposed, in these cases, that the
PAP or APs should provide the client with
relevant information about the building
as soon as is practicable. Relevant
information would be information to
support the client in their duty to ensure
compliance with building regulations.
When the building work is complete, we
propose that the PAP or an APs should
ensure that the information in the golden
thread is updated to reflect that the
building work has been completed. This
would need to include updated building
information from the client.
14
APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
Residents’ engagement strategy
The PAP must, as soon as reasonably
practicable after the building is occupied,
or the time they become the PAP for the
building, prepare a residents’ engagement
strategy for promoting the participation of:
• residents of the higher-risk building who
are aged 16 or over, and
• owners of residential units in the
building;
in the making of building safety decisions.
A building safety decision is a decision by
an AP for the building that:
• is about the management of the building,
and
• is made in connection with the
performance an AP’s statutory duties;
It is proposed that the residents’
engagement strategy requires the PAP
to consult residents about the following
aspects of a building safety decision:
• quality and value for money options;
• the times at and days (for example
weekend working) on which building
safety work can take place; and,
• how potential disruptions to residents
from building safety works could be
mitigated, including their approach to
carrying out emergency works.
The residents’ engagement strategy must
include information about:
• the information that will be provided to
relevant persons about decisions relating
to the management of the building;
• the aspects of those decisions that
relevant persons will be consulted about;
• the arrangements for obtaining and
taking account of the views of relevant
persons; and
• how the appropriateness of methods for
promoting participation will be measured
and kept under review.
It is proposed that the PAP must consult
residents and any other AP on their
residents’ engagement strategy:
• when it is first prepared;
• when a new PAP is appointed; and
• following any material amendments
being made to the strategy.
The PAP must:
• review the strategy at prescribed times,
and revise it if they consider it necessary
or appropriate to do so;
• in prescribed circumstances, consult
relevant persons and prescribed
persons on the strategy and take
any representations made on the
consultation into account when next
reviewing the strategy; and
• implement the strategy.
It is proposed that the strategy is reviewed,
as a minimum, every 2 years and following
a consultation on the strategy.
As soon as reasonably practicable after
the strategy is prepared or revised, each
accountable person for the building must
give a copy of the strategy to:
• each resident of the building who:
o is aged 16 or over, and
o resides in a residential unit in the part
of the building for which the AP is
responsible;
• each owner of a residential unit in that
part of the building;
The AP does not have to provide a copy of
the strategy where they:
• are not aware of the resident, and
• have taken all reasonable steps to make
themselves aware of persons who reside
in residential units in the part of the
building for which they are responsible.
Further details of the requirements for
resident engagement will be proved in
secondary legislation.
Complaints procedure
The must, as soon as reasonably
practicable after the building is occupied,
or the time they become the PAP for the
building, establish and operate a system
for the investigation of relevant complaints.
A relevant complaint is a complaint relating
to:
• a building safety risk as regards the
building, or
• the performance by an accountable
person;
To make sure complainants know how to
raise a building safety issue and how their
concern will be addressed, it is proposed
that the PAP will need to operate a
complaints policy which must include:
• how to make a complaint and the
definition of a ‘relevant complaint’;
• the stages of the complaint process and
the potential outcomes;
• how a complainant can challenge
the decisions about a complaint and
comment on any findings during an
investigation;
• the expected timeframes for handling
and investigating a complaint and
service standards a complainant can
expect; and
• the complainants right to escalate
a complaint to the BSR and how a
complaint may be escalated.
It is proposed that where a complaint is
relevant and there is an issue, the PAP,
working with the relevant AP must:
• set out the steps that will be taken to
rectify the issue;
• set out when they expect it will be
rectified; and,
• communicate this to the complainant as
soon as reasonably practicable.
The complaints system should include the
ability for the complainant to challenge the
response to their complaint, and for the
principal accountable person to respond to
this challenge.
Where the complainant is not content with
the response to the challenge, then the
complainant may escalate their complaint
to the BSR.
The complaints policy will be part of the
information the PAP or the relevant AP has
to provide to residents and be available on
request.
It is proposed that a record of the
complaint must be stored in the golden
thread of information with the following
information recorded, as a minimum:
• contact details for the complainant;
• the date the complaint was raised;
• whether it is a first complaint on the
issue or part of a series of complaints or
related complaints;
• a summary of the complaint itself
including reasoning for it being a
‘relevant complaint’ or not and any
timeframes or prioritisation given;
• whether the response to the complaint
was challenged and the details of that
challenge or challenges;
• the date it was acknowledged;
• the date and summary of the initial
response;
• the date and detail of any interim
responses and any and all
correspondence with the complainant;
and,
• the date and detail of any final response,
including any involvement of the building
safety regulator.
The BSR is also required to establish and
operate a system for the investigation
of relevant complaints that are made, or
referred, to them.
Further details of the requirements for the
compliants procedure will be proved in
secondary legislation.
Duties on residents and owners
Resident aged 16 or over and owners:
• must not act in a way that creates
a significant risk of a building safety risk
materialising;
• must not interfere with a relevant
safety item;
• must comply with a request,
15
APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation
made by the appropriate AP, for information
reasonably required for the purposes of
assessment or management of building
safety risks.
A relevant safety item is anything that:
• is in, or forms part of, the common parts;
and
• is intended to improve the safety of
people in or about the building in relation
to a building safety risk, or
The common parts are:
• the structure and exterior of the building,
except so far as included in a demise
of a single dwelling or of premises to be
occupied for the purposes of a business,
or
• any part of the building provided for
the use, benefit and enjoyment of the
residents of more than one residential
unit (whether alone or with other
persons);
A person will be deemed to have interfered
with a relevant safety item if they, without
reasonable excuse:
• damage it,
• remove it, or
• done anything to, or in relation to, it that
interferes with its intended function.
Contravention notices
Where it appears to an AP that a resident
aged 16 or over or an owner, of a
residential unit located within a part of the
building that they are responsible for, has
contravened or is contravening a duty they
may give a contravention notice to that
person.
The contravention notice must:
• specify the alleged contravention;
• specify any steps that the AP considers
the relevant person should take in order
to remedy the contravention, and a
reasonable time for the taking of those
steps;
• specify anything that the AP considers
the relevant person should refrain from
doing, to avoid further contraventions of
the duty; and
• contains an explanation of the steps that
the appropriate accountable person may
take under this section if the notice is not
complied with.
It is proposed that when a contravention
notice is issued, the relevant AP must
comply with the following requirements:
• it must be in writing and served through
an appropriate mechanism and that
it is understandable to the resident in
question, including taking account of any
accessibility requirements;
• the AP must provide a copy of the notice
to the resident in question’s landlord
(where the AP is not their landlord);
• refer to any relevant previous
communication with the resident relating
to the alleged contravention;
• when specifying potential escalation
steps, the notice must signpost any
relevant guidance issued by the building
safety regulator on contravention
notices; and,
• it must include the AP contact details.
Where it appears to the AP that the
resident or owner has contravened or is
contravening a duty, the contravention
notice may require the relevant person
to pay to the accountable person a sum
specified in the notice.
A sum may be specified in a contravention
notice if:
• it is necessary to repair or replace the
relevant safety item as a result of the
contravention; and
• the sum specified does not exceed the
reasonable cost of repairing or replacing
(as the case may be) that item.
It is proposed that the PAP and APs must
all maintain a record of the contravention
notices that they have served, and any
relevant information connected with their
use of contravention notices in the golden
thread of information.
Court Orders
Should the resident or owner fail to act,
the AP can apply to the county court for an
order.
The county court may make an order if
satisfied that:
• a contravention notice has been given,
• the contravention alleged in the notice
occurred, and
• it is necessary to make the order.
The order may:
• require the resident or owner to provide
specified information or do a specified
thing, by a specified time;
• prohibit a relevant person from doing a
specified thing; and
• where a contravention notice requires a
sum to be paid, require the resident or
owner to pay to the accountable person
a specified sum.
Access to premises
Where an AP wishes to enter premises
occupied or controlled by a resident or
owner of a residential unit in the building,
to:
• allow them to assess or manage building
safety risk; or
• determine whether a duty by a resident
or owner has been contravened,
they must request access in writing.
The request must:
• sets out the purpose for the access;
• contains an explanation of why it is
necessary to enter the premises for that
purpose;
• requests access to the premises at a
reasonable time; and
• be made at least 48 hours before the
time access is required.
Where a compliant request for access has
been made and entry to the premises is not
given, the accountable person may apply
to the county court for an order:
• requiring the resident or owner to allow
the accountable person, or a person
authorised by the accountable person,
to enter the premises at a reasonable
time for the purpose mentioned in the
request; and
• if necessary, authorising the taking of
measurements, photographs, recordings
or samples by the accountable person or
authorised person.
The county court order must specify a date
on which, or in a period within which, the
accountable person or authorised person
may enter the premises.
16

APS Briefing:
Building Safety Act 2022
Briefing Note 2 Duty in Occupation

Further information Bibliography

The Building Safety Act 2022 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/
ukpga/2022/30/contents/enacted
HSE - Safety cases and safety case reports
https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/safety-cases-reports.htm
 
1. Building Safety Act 2022 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/
ukpga/2022/30/contents/enacted
2. Consultation on the new safety regime for occupied higher-risk
buildings
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-
the-new-safety-regime-for-occupied-higher-risk-buildings
3. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 https://www.
legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1541/contents/made
4. Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/547/contents/made
5. BSI Flex 8670 v3.0:2021-04 Built environment. Core criteria for
building safety in competence frameworks. Code of practice
https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/built-environment-
core-criteria-for-building-safety-in-competence-frameworks-
code-of-practice/standard
6. PAS 8673:2022 Built environment – Competence requirements
for the management of safety in residential building –
specification
https://www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/industries-and-sectors/
construction-and-the-built-environment/built-environment-
competence-standards/pas-8673/
7. HSE - Safety cases and safety case reports
https://www.hse.gov.uk/building-safety/safety-cases-reports.
htm
8. The Architects Act 1997
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1997/22
9. The Housing Act 1996
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/52/contents

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