Guide
Building safety duties for Accountable Persons
Your legal duties as an Accountable Person or Principal Accountable Person for a higher-risk building under the Building Safety Act 2022. Covers registration, safety case reports, resident engagement, mandatory occurrence reporting, golden thread maintenance, and Building Assessment Certificates for buildings 18 metres or higher (or 7+ storeys) with 2 or more residential units in England.
Overview of Accountable Person duties
If you are responsible for an occupied higher-risk building in England, the Building Safety Act 2022 creates specific legal duties that you cannot delegate to others. These duties exist to protect residents from fire and structural safety risks, and failure to comply is a criminal offence.
This guide explains who qualifies as an Accountable Person (AP), what distinguishes the Principal Accountable Person (PAP), and the specific duties you must fulfil under Part 4 of the Act. If you manage a building that is 18 metres or more in height, or 7 or more storeys, and contains 2 or more residential units, this regime applies to you.
The duties took effect in stages from April 2023, with all core requirements now fully in force. If you have not yet complied, you should take immediate action - operating without registration or failing to meet your duties exposes you to criminal prosecution.
Who is an Accountable Person?
An Accountable Person (AP) is defined under Section 72 of the Building Safety Act 2022 as someone who:
- Holds a legal estate in possession in the common parts of the building, OR
- Has a relevant repairing obligation for the building or any part of it
Common parts include the structure, exterior, corridors, lobbies, staircases, plant rooms, and any shared facilities. APs can be organisations or individuals.
Typical examples of Accountable Persons:
- Freeholders and building owners
- Landlords with repair obligations
- Management companies controlling the common parts
- Resident Management Companies (RMCs)
- Right to Manage (RTM) companies
- Commonhold associations
- Housing associations and local authorities (for their housing stock)
There can be multiple Accountable Persons if different parties are responsible for different parts of the building. For example, a freeholder might be responsible for the structure and exterior, while a management company has obligations for the common parts under the lease.
Principal Accountable Person
Where there is only one Accountable Person, that person is automatically the Principal Accountable Person (PAP). Where there are multiple APs, the PAP is the one who owns or has a repairing obligation for the structure and exterior of the building.
If it is unclear who the PAP should be, or multiple parties qualify, the First-tier Tribunal can make a determination.
The PAP has additional duties beyond those of other APs:
- Register the building with the Building Safety Regulator
- Prepare the safety case report assessing and managing building safety risks
- Prepare the residents' engagement strategy for consulting residents on safety matters
- Coordinate between all Accountable Persons where multiple parties share responsibility
- Act as main point of contact with the Building Safety Regulator
- Apply for the Building Assessment Certificate
Non-delegable nature of duties
You cannot delegate your legal obligations as an Accountable Person. While you can employ managing agents, building safety managers, or other professionals to help you discharge your duties, the legal accountability remains with you.
If your managing agent fails to comply with a requirement, you are still liable. This means:
- You must actively oversee what your agents are doing
- You should have clear contractual arrangements specifying their responsibilities
- You need systems to verify compliance is actually happening
- You cannot simply assume your agent is handling everything correctly
Prosecutions for Building Safety Act breaches can target the Accountable Person directly, regardless of whether they employed someone else to handle the work.
Duty 1: Register the building
The Principal Accountable Person must register the building with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before anyone occupies it. For buildings that were already occupied when the regime commenced, registration should have been completed by 30 November 2023.
It is a criminal offence to allow residents to occupy an unregistered higher-risk building.
Registration deadlines and ongoing obligations:
- Registration fee: GBP 251 per building
- Provide detailed structure and fire safety information within 28 days of application
- Notify the BSR of changes to building summary, PAP, or APs within 14 days
- Report changes to structure or fire safety information within 28 days
- If your registration is rejected, you have 21 days to request a review (fee: GBP 302)
If you have not registered and the building is occupied, you should register immediately. Late registration is better than no registration, though you may face enforcement action for the period of non-compliance.
Duty 2: Assess and manage building safety risks
Under Sections 83 and 84 of the Building Safety Act, Accountable Persons must:
- Assess building safety risks - identify fire and structural safety risks that could cause serious injury or death to people in or about the building
- Take all reasonable steps to prevent building safety risks from materialising
- Reduce the severity of any incident that does occur
- Review and update your risk assessment regularly, or when circumstances change
This is more than a fire risk assessment under the Fire Safety Order. Building safety risks include structural risks (such as those that could cause partial or total collapse) as well as fire risks. You may need specialist structural engineering advice alongside fire safety expertise.
Duty 3: Prepare and maintain a safety case report
The Principal Accountable Person must prepare a safety case report as soon as reasonably practicable after the building becomes occupied. The safety case report is a key document demonstrating how the building's safety risks are being managed.
What the safety case report must contain:
- The risk assessment under Section 83 - identifying all building safety risks
- Description of steps taken under Section 84 to manage and prevent those risks
- Evidence supporting your conclusions about risk and mitigation
- Details of who is responsible for maintaining safety measures
Keeping the safety case current:
- Revise the safety case if you conduct a further risk assessment
- Revise if you take additional steps to manage building safety risks
- Notify the Building Safety Regulator as soon as reasonably practicable after preparing or revising the safety case
- Provide a copy to the BSR on request
The safety case report forms part of the golden thread of building information and is required when applying for a Building Assessment Certificate.
Duty 4: Establish a residents' engagement strategy
The Principal Accountable Person must prepare and implement a residents' engagement strategy under Section 91 of the Act. This is not optional - it is a legal requirement to actively engage with residents on building safety matters.
Your residents' engagement strategy must cover:
- How you will inform residents about building safety risks and the steps you are taking to manage them
- How residents can report safety concerns and what happens when they do
- How you will consult residents on decisions affecting building safety
- How you will respond to concerns raised by residents
- How you will provide feedback on actions taken in response to resident input
Resident information rights:
Residents of higher-risk buildings have rights to request specific information from the Accountable Person, including:
- Information about building safety risks and management measures
- Details of who the Accountable Persons are
- How to report safety concerns
- The building's fire safety strategy and evacuation procedures
You must respond to requests within a reasonable timeframe. Refusing to engage with residents or ignoring their safety concerns can lead to complaints to the Building Safety Regulator and potential enforcement action.
Duty 5: Report mandatory occurrences
Accountable Persons must report certain safety occurrences to the Building Safety Regulator. This mandatory occurrence reporting (MOR) system ensures the Regulator is aware of incidents that could indicate systemic safety issues.
Types of occurrences that must be reported:
- Structural failures or events that could affect structural integrity
- Fires in the building (regardless of severity)
- Spread of fire from one dwelling to another or to common parts
- Events affecting fire safety systems - failure of detection, alarm, suppression, or compartmentation
- Any event causing risk of serious injury to people in or about the building
Reporting requirements:
- Report occurrences to the Building Safety Regulator promptly
- Use the BSR's online reporting system
- Retain mandatory occurrence reporting information for a minimum of 7 years
- Include MOR records in the golden thread of building information
Duty 6: Maintain the golden thread
Accountable Persons must maintain the golden thread of building information throughout the occupation phase. This digital record system was created during design and construction and must be kept current and accessible.
Golden thread information during occupation must include:
- Key building information - design intent, structural design, fire safety strategy, as-built drawings
- Health and safety file from construction phase
- Safety case report and risk assessments
- Residents' engagement strategy
- Fire safety management - fire risk assessments, equipment records, evacuation procedures
- Structural risks - ongoing monitoring records and assessments
- Complaints log - resident safety complaints and actions taken
- Mandatory occurrence reports
- Maintenance records - repairs, modifications, inspections of safety-critical systems
Golden thread format requirements:
- Must be stored digitally (can be across multiple systems)
- Must be accessible to those who need it, secure from unauthorised access
- Must use plain English with consistent terminology
- Must be GDPR compliant
- Must be version controlled with audit trail showing who made changes and when
- Must be capable of electronic transfer without data loss
The government does not mandate specific software - any system meeting the requirements is acceptable.
Duty 7: Obtain a Building Assessment Certificate
The Principal Accountable Person must apply for a Building Assessment Certificate (BAC) from the Building Safety Regulator. The BAC confirms that the BSR has assessed your safety case report and is satisfied that you are managing building safety risks appropriately.
Building Assessment Certificate requirements:
- PAP must apply for a BAC - failure to apply without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence
- Application requires a completed safety case report demonstrating adequate risk management
- Once issued, the BAC must be displayed in a prominent position within the building
- Failure to display the BAC is a criminal offence under Section 82
- The BAC demonstrates to residents and others that the building's safety has been assessed
The BAC application effective date was 17 January 2024. If you have not yet applied, you should do so as soon as your safety case report is complete.
Access powers for Accountable Persons
To fulfil your duties, you have statutory powers to access residential premises within the building. However, these powers come with specific requirements to protect residents' rights.
Access and enforcement powers:
- 48 hours minimum written notice required before entering residential premises
- Notice must include a detailed explanation of the purpose of entry
- You can obtain a court order if a resident denies reasonable access
- You can issue written contravention notices to residents who breach their safety duties
Grounds for contravention notices:
- Creating building safety risks through actions or omissions
- Interfering with safety items (fire doors, smoke detectors, evacuation routes)
- Failure to provide information requested by the AP for safety purposes
Document all access requests and contravention notices as part of the golden thread records.
Penalties for non-compliance
The Building Safety Act creates criminal offences with severe penalties. Both individuals and corporate bodies can be prosecuted. Directors and officers may face personal liability where corporate offences are committed with their consent, connivance, or attributable to their neglect.
Specific criminal offences for Accountable Persons:
- Failure to register an occupied higher-risk building - criminal offence
- Failure to apply for a BAC without reasonable excuse - criminal offence (Section 79)
- Failure to display the BAC - criminal offence (Section 82)
- Providing false or misleading information - unlimited fine and/or up to 2 years imprisonment (Section 24)
- Placing persons at critical risk through contravention - unlimited fine and/or up to 2 years imprisonment (Section 101)
- Obstructing the Building Safety Regulator - criminal offence
Civil enforcement powers:
The Building Safety Regulator can also take civil enforcement action including:
- Compliance notices requiring you to take specific action
- Improvement notices
- Prohibition orders preventing occupation
- Special measures orders - the BSR can appoint a manager to take over building safety duties from a failing Accountable Person, with costs recoverable from you
Extended enforcement period: There is no time limit for prosecution of building regulations contraventions (previously 2 years). Enforcement action can be taken up to 10 years from completion of works (previously 12 months).
Action plan for Accountable Persons
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Confirm whether your building is a higher-risk building
Check if the building is 18 metres or more in height, OR 7 or more storeys, AND contains 2 or more residential units. If either threshold is met and there are 2+ residential units, the Part 4 regime applies. If borderline, get professional measurement and consider seeking BSR confirmation.
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Identify all Accountable Persons and determine who is the Principal Accountable Person
Review ownership structure, leases, and management agreements. Identify who has legal estate in the common parts and who has repairing obligations. The PAP is usually the freeholder or whoever has responsibility for structure and exterior. Document the determination.
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Register the building with the Building Safety Regulator
If not already registered, apply immediately via the BSR online portal. Fee is GBP 251 per building. Provide required structure and fire safety information within 28 days of application. Keep registration up to date with any changes.
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Conduct a building safety risk assessment
Assess both fire safety and structural safety risks. This goes beyond a standard fire risk assessment. Consider appointing competent fire safety and structural engineering professionals. Document all risks identified and evidence supporting your conclusions.
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Prepare or update your safety case report
The PAP must prepare a safety case report showing how building safety risks are being managed. Include risk assessment findings and all steps taken to manage risks. Notify the BSR when the safety case is prepared or revised.
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Develop and implement a residents' engagement strategy
Create a documented strategy for engaging residents on safety matters. Include how residents can report concerns, how you will consult them, and how you will provide feedback. Make the strategy accessible to all residents.
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Establish a mandatory occurrence reporting system
Set up processes to identify, record, and report safety occurrences to the BSR. Train relevant staff on what constitutes a reportable occurrence. Report promptly and retain records for 7 years minimum.
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Ensure the golden thread is complete and current
Review what building information you hold from construction handover. Establish systems to maintain and update information during occupation. Ensure format meets regulatory requirements (digital, accessible, plain English, version controlled, GDPR compliant).
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Apply for a Building Assessment Certificate
Once safety case report is complete, apply to the BSR for a BAC. This demonstrates to residents and others that building safety has been independently assessed. Display the certificate prominently once issued.
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Review competence of anyone supporting your duties
Ensure any managing agents, building safety managers, or advisers you engage are competent. Remember you cannot delegate legal responsibility - you remain liable for their failures. Establish clear contracts and monitoring arrangements.