The Building Safety Act 2023 came into force in April this year and requires all high-rise residential buildings to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator by 30 September 2023. It will be an offence to allow residents to occupy an unregistered building after this date. Fundamentally, once a high-rise residential building is registered, the Key Building Information must be submitted to the Regulator within 28 days of registration.
THIS MEANS THE ABSOLUTE DEADLINE FOR THE SUBMISSION OF KEY BUILDING INFORMATION IS 28TH OCTOBER 2023.
The HSE estimates that up to 12,500 high-rise buildings in England are covered by the new Regulator.
Supplementary legislation, The Higher-Risk Buildings (Key Building Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2023, sets out what constitutes key building information, the legislative duties, and responsibilities of an Accountable Person/Principal Accountable Person (AP/PAP), and how this information is to be provided to the Regulator.
The level of detail required is so extensive that an AP/PAP will need to begin the process of delivering their Building Safety Case Report ASAP to facilitate the provision of Key Building Information by the deadline.
Key Building Information Headline List
Harris Associates have produced a headline list of Key Building Information below, along with a more detailed schedule of requirements upon request.
1. Basic Building Information
2. Details of Accountable Person/Principal Accountable Person
3. Construction of the Building
4. Resident Profile
5. Means of Escape including travel distances
6. Fire Prevention and Protective Measures
7. Structural Safety
8. Services and Utilities
9. Maintenance and Inspection
10. Emergency Planning
Newer high-rise residential buildings will have a Health and Safety File prepared in accordance with the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM Regulations), and this will be a useful source of information.
Older Buildings
If the high-rise building is older or has changed ownership multiple times, some information may not be readily available. However, you must take reasonable steps to find the required information from historic archives, previous owners and local authority planning and building control records.
The information-gathering process may highlight problems which could include:
-discovering that a control measure thought to be in place is not
-investigations identifying unresolved issues with control measures
This knowledge gives you the chance to do something about them before an incident occurs so you should consider how critical each issue is and what can reasonably be done. If issues are outstanding when the building's Safety Case Report is submitted, an action plan may be required to show the Regulator what actions are being taken and the timescales for completion.
How Can We Help?
Harris Associates have a dedicated in-house team dealing with compliance matters, including the preparation of Safety Case Reports. Our compliance team comprises chartered surveyors, chartered engineers, technicians, and fire safety professionals. We are skilled at helping clients navigate through the increasingly burdensome requirements of statutory compliance. In particular, when delivering joined-up services that take in the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety Act 2021, Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, the ever-present Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and Building Regulations.
For more information or advice contact Shaun Harris at shaun@harrisassociatesuk.com
or Nicola Goule at nicola@harrisassociatesuk.com on 0203 195 0851, 0121 213 6307, 0161 615 3679.
