All change: Building Safety Regulators campaign for Residents Rights!

On 27 February 2024 the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) launched its campaign, "Your Home Your Safety", aimed at informing residents of high-rise buildings (HRBs) about their increased rights and protections. This campaign also helps encourage residents of HRBs to check whether their building has been registered. It is a helpful tool for leaseholders but also landlords, developers and RTM Companies. 

Included in the new building safety laws in England introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) are provisions that protect and empower residents of HRBs to take an active part in safety decisions regarding their building. However, the campaign introduces further obligations which are not set out in the BSA or its associated regulations. Those responsible for HRBs should therefore take note of the guidance issued. 

Principal Accountable Person (PAP)

A pivotal feature of the BSA is the provision for each HRB to have a PAP and an Accountable Person (AP) appointed. To better understand who the PAP and AP is, see a link to our article here. The PAP essentially is responsible for managing the HRBs safety and is responsible for all legal obligation. Residents of HRBs are now guaranteed: 

• identified safety risks are/will be addressed,
• access to ongoing information on safety improvements,
• empowerment to voice concerns,
• safety information that is clear, easy to understand and accessible. 

Under the BSA 2022 Part 4, Section 87, the PAP must establish and operate a single mandatory occurrence reporting (MOR) system for the HRBs they are responsible for. The system must enable prompt reporting by all residents, APs and others who use the building. The PAP is required to share information about how the system works with all residents, APs, other users of the building and the BSR, when requested, and as part of applying for a Building Assessment Certificate. This culminates in the duty-holder regime. For a more in-depth guide on the duty-holder regime see our article here. 

Operating a MOR system

The MOR system must be established before construction or when a HRB is occupied and building works begin. The system must operate throughout the project. The MOR system must enable people to report building safety incidents and risks that have caused, or if not remedied, are likely to cause the death and/or serious injury of a significant number of people. Building safety incidents and risks involve at least one of the following: 

• structural failure of the building 
• the spread of fire or smoke in the building

The PAP must report incidents or risks that meet these criteria to the BSR as a safety occurrence. They must do so by submitting a mandatory occurrence notice as soon as possible and a report must be made within 10 days of the safety occurrence being identified. 

Resident engagement strategy

Under the BSA 2022 Part 4, Section 91, the PAP, as soon as reasonably practicable, must prepare a strategy (a "residents' engagement strategy") to promote the participation of residents in the making of building safety decisions. 

The PAP's strategy must describe how it will include: 

• residents over the age of 16 and anyone who owns a resident unit in building safety decisions. (A building safety decision is any decision made by an accountable person about the management of the building); and  
• the management of building safety risks or any other decision connected to the duties of an accountable person.

Other points residents should be aware of

Residents should be aware of the PAP's responsibilities and obligations when it comes to their positive engagement in the safety of their building:

• The PAP is encouraged to involve and consult with their residents when establishing the MOR system. 
• The PAP is encouraged to consider consulting with residents on any changes to the MOR system.
• The PAP's residents' engagement strategy should be clear about how residents and others can submit reports on the system. The PAP should consider if reports can be raised via email, telephone, online and in person. 
• Residents should be aware that information can and should be displayed clearly within the building, such as the lobby or other common spaces.
• The PAP must take into consideration what to do if residents find it difficult to describe an incident. Photo evidence or video can be used to help communicate what happened. 
• Residents should be aware that the strategy should set out what the PAP can do if someone needs information in a different language or in an alternative format, for example, large text, easy read, braille or audio. 
• The PAP should work with residents to find ways of accessing information that better suits them, which in turn will help them comply with equality law. 
• When necessary, residents may appoint a representative to report an incident for them. There will need to be a separate complaints procedure in the strategy, but the strategy should not deal with how you will handle complaints about the building's safety.

APs, for the parts of the building that they are responsible for, must:

• provide the latest version of the strategy to residents and owners of residential units.
• tell residents about building safety work.
• tell them about who will carry out the work.

APs must work with all other APs for the HRB to help prepare and review the residents' engagement strategy.

Conclusion

The BSR's campaign to inform residents of HRBs of their new protections and rights is a further step forward towards reaching a safer built environment. As the industry continues to progress it is vital for campaigns such as the "Your Home Your Safety" campaign to be established to foster a culture of safety and responsiveness to the need of residents of HRBs. This campaign is a useful tool not only to leaseholders but also landlords, developers and RTM Companies as this guidance seems to impose further obligations on PAPs and APs that are not enacted in statute. The Howard Kennedy Building Safety Group is committed to keeping relevant parties informed on their duties and responsibilities when it comes to building safety. 

This blog is part of a series published by Howard Kennedy LLP on the Building Safety Act. For more information, please contact Shade Mushayandebvu, Bhavini Patel or Mark Pritchard. For other blogs, please click here.