The Building Safety Act 2022: Everything you need to know in 5 minutes

Last updated: 18th October 2024

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) has been introduced to reform building safety legislation in direct response to the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy which claimed 72 lives in 2017.  

Part 4 of the BSA 2022 introduces a new regime and duties for managing fire and building safety risks in higher-risk residential buildings. These buildings are at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys, with two or more residential units.  

The BSA 2022 is one of several new pieces of legislation and guidance introduced following the recommendations from Dame Judith Hackitt’s Building a Safer Future Report, which was commissioned and published in response to the Grenfell Tower fire. This new legislation, implemented to improve building and fire safety, includes the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the Fire Safety Act 2021 - which you can read more about here. Importantly, implementing the requirements of the BSA 2022 should help affected residents be and feel safer in their homes and will change the way buildings are designed, constructed, and managed.

Want to know what other industry professionals are asking about the Building Safety Act 2022? Download Want to know what other industry professionals are asking about the Building Safety Act 2022? Download 'Your Top 10 Building Safety Questions Answered' to level up your understanding of how to meet your legal compliance obligations.  

The Building Safety Act 2022 focuses on the following key areas:

• The safety and standards of all buildings.
• Assuring the safety of higher-risk buildings during construction and occupation. 
• Improving the competence of the people responsible for overseeing, managing, and delivering works to higher-risk buildings. 
• Ensuring clearer standards and guidance.
• Putting residents at the heart of a new system of building safety.

Who does the Building Safety Act 2022 apply to?

The requirements set out in the Building Safety Act 2022 affect building owners/managers and the built environment industry. This includes those who commission building work and those who participate in the design and construction process, including clients, designers, and contractors. 

The Building Safety Act 2022 - key takeaways

• Applies to all buildings and specifically new or existing occupied buildings over 18 metres high or seven storeys or more, which contain at least two residential units. The design, refurbishment, and construction requirements also apply to care homes and hospitals meeting the same height threshold.
• Creates a universal change in responsibility and culture within the building industry.
• Through the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), it establishes a more effective regulatory and responsibility framework for the construction industry and introduces clearer standards and guidance.
• Clarifies who has responsibility for fire and building safety throughout the life cycle of a higher-risk building. 

Discover more about building safety legislation in our recent webinar, Building Safety Act 2022: Insights from Building Safety Regulator, which is available to watch on-demand now. Our experts were joined by Andrew Saunders, the Operational Policy Advisor at the Building Safety Regulator, to recap the requirements of Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022, including lessons learnt from helping organisations with their building assessment certificate applications and key focus areas to ensure compliance with the latest updates. 

Key Updates

 From 1st April 2024, the BSR's new building safety regime commenced in full. This included the BSR starting to instruct building owners to apply for building assessment certificates (BACs). BAC applications should include the safety case report, mandatory occurrence reporting information, and resident engagement strategy for each higher-risk building. Building owners then have 28 days to submit this information. Failure to do so could be a breach of Section 79 (3) of the BSA 2022.

In January 2024, the government published information on mandatory occurrence reporting and the process for notifying the BSR of any safety occurrences within your buildings. To find out more about how to create a mandatory occurrence reporting system, visit our dedicated blog here.

In December 2023, the BSR released its enforcement policy statement which sets out enforcement methods for breaches of law.

From 1st October 2023, a number of building safety updates came into force, including the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) becoming the building control authority for higher-risk buildings, requirements to have a 'golden thread' of information, and the introduction of Section 156 of the Building Safety Act. In addition to this, all in-occupation higher-risk buildings had to be registered with the BSR by this date.  

Two new roles - Principal Accountable Person and Accountable Person(s)

Described as “the biggest change to building safety regulation in a generation”, the Building Safety Act has implemented two key roles – Principal Accountable Person (PAP) and Accountable Person (AP). 

An accountable person (AP) is either a person or organisation that owns or is responsible for repairing any of the common parts of the building, or a person or organisation required under the terms of a lease, or by an enactment, to repair or maintain any part of the common parts. Common parts include the exterior and structure, corridors, or lobbies.  

The Principal Accountable Person (PAP) is the one that owns or is legally responsible for the repair of the exterior and structure of the building. Typically, an organisation, such as a commonhold association, local authority, or social housing provider is the PAP.

Amendments to the BSA 2022 have removed the clause which would have required the Accountable Person to appoint a Building Safety manager to support in the planning, managing, and monitoring of the various tasks necessary to ensure that Principal Accountable Persons’ duties are complied with. Whilst the prescribed role has been removed, the Principal Accountable Person’s responsibilities for complying with the overall requirements of the BSA 2022 are unchanged, and they will have to put in place appropriate arrangements to ensure they meet these. This should include determining what staffing structures, skills, and competencies are appropriate and ensuring people are trained to carry out required functions. 

“Accountable Persons are landlords, freeholders who are in charge of repairing the building.”

The Building Safety Regulator duties

The BSR is responsible for overseeing the safety and performance systems of all buildings. They have been given powers to enforce the rules and act against those that break them. And for high-risk properties, they will be able to implement more stringent rules, including how they are designed, constructed, and occupied. 

The 3 main functions of the Building Safety Regulator:

1. Oversee the safety and performance system for all buildings: this is done through overseeing the performance of building control bodies across the public and private sectors, and by understanding and advising on existing and emerging building standards and safety risks. 
   
   
2. Encourage increased competence by setting the direction of an industry-led competence committee and establishing competence requirements for registration of building control professionals. 
   
   
3. Lead the implementation of the new regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings, including having the powers to involve other teams, including the Fire Service, when making regulatory decisions regarding building safety. 

“The BSR will have two objectives—to secure the safety of people in and around buildings and improve building standards; and to regulate in line with best practice principles.” - GOV.UK

  Want to understand how well you have adapted to your new 
  obligations on building safety? Download our free Building Safety      self-assessment to see where you are on your building safety       
  journey. 

Building Assessment Certificates (BAC)

On 4th April 2024, the BSR published new guidance on applying for a building assessment certificate and detailed information on what the Principal Accountable Person (PAP) must submit within the application.

What Leadership Teams, Boards, and Cabinets should be doing:

• Safety cases should have been drafted before April 2024. If your reports are still not drafted, at the very least there should be an action plan in place to meet the requirements.
• Board members must familiarise themselves with the new obligations and challenge executives to ensure they are being met. Remember the HSE mantra: Plan, do, check, act. Leaders and Boards should receive regular assurance reporting that provides an accurate compliance picture. 
• Focus on managing risks. If a risk cannot be eradicated, mitigations should be put in place to reduce the risk.

The 'Gateway' system 

The BSA 2022introduces the “gateway” system, under which the BSR will assess whether fire and structural building risks, processes and controls, and roles and responsibilities are clearly understood during different stages of building construction and building work. Specific criteria must be fulfilled before the BSR will issue approval to pass through each gateway.  

Gateway 1 - design stage (commenced as of August 2021)
The BSR is a statutory consultee for planning applications which involve relevant buildings in England. The BSR reviews planning applications before planning permission is granted to check that building designs address fire safety.

Gateway 2 - pre-construction stage (commenced as of October 2023)
Building work cannot begin until the BSR approves the building control approval application. The BSR assesses whether the proposed design meets the requirements of the building regulations.

Gateway 3 (commenced as of October 2023) 
The building cannot be occupied until the BSR makes an assessment of the totality of the build to ensure it complies with regulations and issues a completion certificate. This is slightly more bespoke to the end user, meaning there are a number of legal requirements that must be adhered to. 

"As we pass this huge milestone this month my greatest wish is for us all to commit to work together to make the new building safety regime work for everyone – but most of all – for all residents everywhere." - Dame Judith Hackitt on the new building safety regime.

Dame Judith Hackitt delved into the April 2024 changes to building safety in her latest blog, sharing her views on the building safety journey and calling for collaboration going into the new regime. Reflecting on these changes, she emphasises their significance, labelling them as one of the most important work programmes she has ever undertaken. She also makes it clear that whilst this is a crucial milestone, "this is not the end of the journey". She highlights her biggest concern as the number of people who persist in finding reasons not to act, demonstrating the need for proactive engagement moving forward.  

To discover more about the April  2024 updates, catch up on our latest webinar, 'Building Safety Act 2022: Latest legislative updates', to hear our building safety experts discuss the headline requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022 and best practices developed by organisations adapting to the changes over the past year.  Discover the answers to the most common building safety questions to stay compliant with the new regime that commenced in April.

When did the Building Safety Act 2022 become law?

The draft bill was announced in July 2020, and its First Reading took place a year later in 2021. The BSA 2022 received Royal Assent and completed all the parliamentary stages in becoming an Act of Parliament in April 2022. All existing buildings in scope of the BSA 2022 needed to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator before October 2023. The Higher-Risk Buildings (Key Building Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 define the key building information which was to be submitted by 30th September 2023. For new buildings completed after 1st October 2023, a relevant completion certificate or final notice is needed. The buildings must be registered before any residents can occupy them.  

What next?

The BSR has released its strategic three year plan where it has outlined its approach from now until 2026 and beyond.  

• They aim to have assessed about 40% of occupied higher risk buildings which represents 65% of residential dwellings. 
• Any work on remediating dangerous cladding will be completed or underway, and we will take action on those that are not compliant. 
• By October 2026, the BSR will have completed a cost-benefit analysis of making regular inspections of the condition of electrical installations in relevant buildings with a view to improving the safety of persons in or about relevant buildings. They will also consider what further provision or guidance may be needed regarding stairs and ramps in relevant buildings, emergency egress of disabled persons from relevant buildings, and automatic water fire suppression systems in relevant buildings. 
• Review activities and key performance indicators against desired outcomes and behaviours. 
• Develop balanced scorecard – a performance management tool to measure the effectiveness of an activity against the strategic goal. 
• Establish targets against key performance indicators. 

What systems are best for managing compliance?

Under the Building Safety Act, owners/managers will be required to collect, monitor, and manage data on their buildings and how safety risks are being managed to satisfy the Golden Thread of Information obligations and provide the evidence for their safety cases. 

“Golden Thread of Information - the information about a building that allows someone to understand a building and keep it safe, now and in the future, and the information management to ensure the information is accurate, up to date, easily understandable, can be accessed by those who need it. Applies to all buildings within scope of the new more stringent building safety regime, being introduced through the Building Safety Act 2022”. - GOV.UK

Need some more insight into what the golden thread is, and how you can plan and implement it? Watch our 'Building Safety: Implementing the Golden Thread of Information' webinar on-demand here. Gain valuable insight into the 10 golden thread principles, alongside a clear understanding of what you need to consider to meet your golden thread requirements. 

A Safety Case Report is a document that demonstrates building safety risks have been assessed and all reasonable steps are being taken to prevent risk. It is the primary way the BSR will hold the Accountable Person to account for identifying risks and hazards and managing them. The report is specific to the building in question and must remain valid and ready for review when required. The safety case report is assisted by the golden thread of information which delivers complete information and evidence around the assessment and management of building safety risks. 

When considering what system(s) to use to hold your data, getting the key principles of accurate data management are as important as the functionality of the system you use – our blog on data accuracy guides you through this. You will then need to think about whether any system you currently use will give you all the information you need to compile your safety case report and hold your golden thread, or whether you can pull together different parts of data and work with it to meet your obligations. Catch our webinar on data management to help you consider this here.

       Can you rely on the accuracy of your compliance data? Click here to read more.

Would I benefit from a Building Safety Gap Analysis? (BSGA)

Our Building Safety Gap Analysis assesses your housing assets and building safety management approach against the requirements set out under Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022 and fire safety legislation. The Gap Analysis will provide a position statement to show where you are against each obligation and provide recommendations in an action plan to strengthen your approach (if required). 
 
At Pennington Choices, we offer registered providers, property owners, and managing agents a range of advice and services to help solve your property management issues. Having worked for over 20 years delivering projects to property providers and landlords nationally, we have significant consulting experience. 

       Click to read how we helped Native Residential to develop a robust building safety case report for one of their higher-risk buildings, to ensure compliance with the Building Safety Act.

We can help you ensure your property portfolio complies with both current and future legislation, and help you meet the requirements of the Building Safety Act by providing you with the assurance that you are meeting your obligations to ensure your residents live in safe homes which meet legal standards. 

For even more insight into how you should be adapting to the recent changes, click here to read our Building Safety Act 2022 Summary blog.