Building Safety Case Support: Finding the Required Documentation

A Quick Re-Cap

The Building Safety Act is the result of Government investigations into all aspects of high-rise building safety, with a focus on structural failure and fire safety. A Principal Accountable Person must now be responsible for the implementation of the Act’s requirements.

One of the responsibilities faced by the Principal Accountable Person is to produce and maintain a Safety Case for any “Higher-Risk Buildings” they manage (buildings that are over 18 metres or seven stories in height and contain 2 or more residential dwellings).

In essence, a safety case is a collection of information and records that demonstrates how the principal accountable person will manage risks such as the spread of fire or structural failure.

What is Expected of Principal Accountable Persons

A large part of preparing your safety case report will involve gathering the relevant information and documentation. For many, this may be a simple task. For others, it may be trickier.

For those who have managed a building for a long time, much of the paperwork might be on hand. For those who have recently inherited a block, especially one whose previous manager didn’t embrace an online filing system, it may be very challenging.

The advice from the Health and Safety Executive is to get genuinely curious. Their non-exhaustive list of information you may need to acquire regarding your building includes:

• The date it was built and what the relevant standards were at that time

• Plans for the building at the time it was built

• Details of the building’s construction, including facade and insulation materials

• Details of common parts and any underground levels

• Details of any shared facilities such as utilities, car parking or access

• Details of any refurbishment or changes to the building since it was built

• Your building’s height and number of storeys

• The number and type of flats

• Information about the building’s structural condition

• Your fire prevention and protection measures

• Maintenance and inspection details including assessment reports and follow up works

• Your arrangements for managing and monitoring the building

• Information about services and utilities associated with the building

• A profile of your residents

As far as your responsibilities are concerned, if the documentation is hard to come by, you must at least evidence that you have “made every reasonable effort” to obtain what’s needed. This may mean searching archived, paper-based storage, requesting planning authority records, accessing building control records or even contacting previous owners or managers. 

Our team has been deep in thought about how we can support high rise block managers as they get to grips with the Building Safety Case requirements. We’ve recently launched a support service that will assist with compiling, maintaining and sharing your safety case reports.

The 4site Consulting Team