Principles for managing building safety risks and the safety case report

Overview

This area of the consultation on implementing the new regime for occupied higher-risk buildings relates to the safety case report and the safety case approach.

As part of the new regulatory requirements, we are introducing a safety case regime to oversee the management of building safety risks in high-rise multi-occupied residential buildings. This new approach will provide greater assurance that risks have been assessed and proportionate steps are in place to manage them on an ongoing basis, ensuring residents are safe in their homes.

Under the new regime, the principal accountable person and accountable person(s) will be required to assess building safety risks, take all reasonable steps to prevent such a risk materialising and limit the impact should an incident occur. The steps taken by the principal accountable person or an accountable person will need to be in line with prescribed principles.

Information relating to the assessment and management of building safety risks will make up the safety case for the building, which will need to be stored in the golden thread of information. A summary of this information must be presented to the Building Safety Regulator in the form of a safety case report.

Safety case reports will be reviewed by the Building Safety Regulator as part of a principal accountable person’s application for a building assessment certificate. Safety case reports may also be reviewed separately to this.