What is a Building Safety Gap Analysis?

A Building Safety Gap Analysis assesses your housing assets and building safety management approach against the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022 and the changes to fire safety legislation.

The gap analysis will evaluate your current approach to managing building safety and identify potential gaps and areas for development. It will highlight areas where you can strengthen your existing approach against the provisions within the Building Safety Act 2022 and related legislative changes.

It will review your asset profile and your planned development/acquisition profile to identify any specific obligations you will have and examine the potential implications for any new assets.

The purpose of the gap analysis is to enable you to look forward and understand and prepare for your new obligations arising from the Building Safety Act 2022 and other changes to fire safety legislation. The analysis is a high level, strategically focused review to:

• Strengthen your understanding of areas you should consider and determine your organisational culture and position on.
• Identify areas where you must or should consider taking action over the next 12 to ensure you will be ready to meet specific obligations.
• Develop a roadmap and action plan for how you will implement any required changes.

Our Building Safety Gap Analysis has been carefully developed by our in-house experts. It is tailored to the obligations arising from the Building Safety Act 2022 and other legal changes, allowing you to take the next steps to ensure the safety of your buildings and the safety of those who live in them.

What are the key benefits of our Building Safety Gap Analysis?

Our Building Safety Gap Analysis uses a structured methodology to assess your position and identify tailored actions for you to take. This provides you with a consistent advice that is based on evidence and our professional knowledge and experience. A review of your existing building safety arrangements and asset data will enable us to support you to take the short-, medium- and longer-term steps needed to ensure you are ready for the new duties you will have to meet.

Following your Building Safety Gap Analysis, you will be left with a clear roadmap of the steps you need to take to ensure you can meet all your building safety obligations.

What are the stages involved in carrying out a Building Safety Gap Analysis?

• Initial briefing to gain an overview of your existing arrangements and current position.
• Appraisal of key documents and asset data to understand the profile of your assets and identify those that would be likely to have obligations arising under the changes.
• Interviews with relevant staff and teams to understand in detail how you manage building safety in its widest sense. We will explore all the touchpoints across your organisation which contribute to your overall approach, including how you engage with residents in your buildings.
• Evaluation of your resources, both internal and external, to consider capacity and competency.
• Practical report of key findings highlighting where you are now and the actions you should take to ensure you can meet your new obligations.
• One-to-one meeting to discuss findings and recommendations.
  
  

What issues might a Building Safety Gap Analysis highlight?

A Building Safety Gap analysis is tailored specifically to your organisation’s needs. Some issues it might highlight include:

• Which of your assets are within scope of the Building Safety Act 2022 and the various requirements arising from the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and how you can ensure you meet your relevant responsibilities for them.
• Whether you are prepared to meet your Accountable Person obligations, and how you will know that you are achieving this.
• What you need to do to ensure your staff and others are competent to work in your higher-risk buildings
• Whether the steps you are taking to prepare Building Safety Cases and Safety Case Reports, for consideration by the Building Safety Regulator, will enable you to discharge your duties.
• Whether your systems and processes for gathering and managing data will be fit for purpose for the new regime.
• Whether your approach to resident engagement will meet the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022.
• Steps you need to take or issues to consider for new buildings in the pipeline or under construction.

Next steps

Our Building Safety Gap Analysis is not an audit of your current building safety or compliance assurance. It is a high level, strategic review enabling you to plan for your future approach over the next 12 months. It will enable you to be clear on the steps you need to take to ensure you will be ready to comply with your new obligations under the Building Safety Act 2022 and changes to fire safety legislation.

At Pennington Choices, our team of experts can efficiently assess your organisation’s position and approach, and help you take the next steps to keep your people and building safe. With over 20 years’ experience, we provide a wide range of property-related, technical, and professional services to the public and private sectors.