Why Construction Safety Details Matter More Than Ever

Construction management companies are likely to play a bigger role in regulatory scrutiny of high-rise buildings. They will face more demands to provide details for documents that make up applications for building assessment certificates.

The issue is coming to the fore as the Building Safety Regulator works its way through the list of higher risk buildings for which registration has been mandatory since October 2023.

The regulator has already rejected applications for many of the most at-risk buildings.

Defining high-risk

Each high-rise residential building must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator before people live there if has at least seven storeys or is at least 18 metres high and has at least two residential units. These are known as higher risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022.

Accountable persons – those that own or have a legal obligation to repair any common parts of the building – manage the fire and structural safety risks of a high-rise residential building. Plus, each higher risk building must have one clearly identifiable accountable person, known as the principal (PAP). This is usually an organisation, such as a commonhold association, local authority or social housing provider.

What’s happened since registration?

The regulator has started to direct some PAPs to apply for a building assessment certificate, demonstrating that the systems and procedures in place for managing fire and building safety meet the standard required. Within 28 days of the request, the PAP must upload documents – including the safety case report, resident engagement strategy and information about the mandatory occurrence reporting system – to the regulator’s online portal.

The regulator aims to assess all 12,500 higher risk buildings over the first five years and then reassess them every five years, or earlier if there have been major building works or any safety incidents in the meantime.

Meeting the required standard

A multidisciplinary team assesses each application and may request further information. If the regulator is satisfied, it will issue the certificate, which must be displayed prominently in a shared space. In the case of minor issues, easily remediable within seven days, it will issue a prompt remedy notice and will then grant approval if the PAP can show evidence of compliance.

However, if the regulator is not satisfied, it will send either a contravention letter or a compliance notice, listing the issues and a deadline for compliance.

Documenting evidence

Tim Galloway, deputy director of the BSR’s building safety division, advises PAPs that applications should demonstrate, rather than assert, that the systems and processes in place ensure compliance.

Where there are issues, the safety case report should state what needs to be done, what is being done, any gaps and what is being done to bridge them.

Flooding the regulator with hundreds of documents hoping this will cover all bases is not advised. This fails to demonstrate a clear understanding of what is relevant and adds to the regulator’s chargeable assessment time, which the landlord pays.