The law relating to building safety in England is changing. Proposed reforms currently making their way through parliament will introduce a safety case regime (a safety case is all the information you need to manage the risk of fire and the structural safety of your building). This will mean new roles and responsibilities for high-rise residential building owners and management, including Accountable Persons (AP) and Building Safety Managers (BSM).
If you own or manage an occupied high-rise residential building (HRB), you’ll have to collect detailed, accurate information when you prepare a safety case report and register your building.
Last year, the HSE published ‘safety case’ principles, designed to gather all the information needed to manage the risk of fire spread and the structural safety of a building. Building on this, it is now publishing information to form a toolkit for building owners and managers.
Key to creating an effective safety case is knowing your building, says the HSE. Be curious about your building, it says. Gather information about how your building was built (including the design intent – why it was built the way it was). Include any changes that have been made since it was first built, and the measures in place to control building safety risks.
Information you might need
Every building is different so you may need other items of information. Some information will be obvious or easy to find, but you may have to investigate your building, or ask other people or organisations for help.
Some examples of things you’ll need to know about your building are:
- The profile of its residents.
- When it was built, and the relevant standards at time of construction.
- Your building’s height, number of storeys, number and type of flats.
- Details of common parts and any underground levels.
- Details of any shared facilities such as utilities, car parking or access if it’s part of a wider development.
- Plans of the building as built (if available).
- Details of the building’s construction including facade and insulation materials.
- Details of any refurbishment or changes to the building since it was built.
- Your fire prevention and protection measures.
- Information about its structural condition.
- Information about services and utilities.
- Maintenance and inspection details.
- Arrangements for managing and monitoring your building.
In the coming months this will be followed by further information that builds on the safety case principles from last year. This will include new material that has been introduced following the suggestions and comments received from early adopters, private landlords, social housing providers and other industry consultees.
Tim Galloway, Deputy Director of the Building Safety Programme at HSE, encouraged organisations and people to start preparing:
“I am really pleased that we’ve published this information in such a digestible form. I want to thank all our partners for their invaluable contribution. We all want safe buildings and I would encourage building owners to start their preparations for the new regime now rather than wait for all the details to be developed. I think the existing principles, this headline document and the further information to come will really help.”