Building safety: Engaging with residents

Among the findings of the Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety was the conclusion that residents simply do not have enough say in the management of their homes and buildings. The Building Safety Act requires residents to be given access to key building safety information, along with the opportunity to participate in decision-making, as well as a clear resident complaint process.

The Building Safety Act specifies a new role, that of duty holder, known as the Accountable Person (AP) or in the case of more complex buildings, the Principal Accountable Person (PAP). The AP/PAP are required to meet the obligations set out in the Building Safety Act, including managing fire and structural safety risks for the entire building, and the external envelope.

What are the obligations?

In addition to the statutory duties of the AP, to assess and manage building safety risks, the PAP is also expected to carry out several further requirements including:

• Register buildings with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
• Submit a Safety Case Report.
• Apply for a building assessment certificate (where required by the BSR).
• Create and operate a mandatory occurrence reporting system.
• Prepare a resident’s engagement strategy.
• Operate a complaint procedure.

Furthermore, the PAP is required to prepare a residents engagement strategy, which it is obligated to keep under continuous review, along with providing relevant safety information for their building. Ultimately the expectation is that the resident engagement strategy should keep residents informed, give them the opportunity to get involved with decision making and operate a complaints procedure, so that residents may raise safety concerns.

Residents’ voices need to be heard

In order to provide residents with a greater say in the management of their homes and buildings, the Building Safety Act requires the PAP to:

1. Prepare a residents engagement strategy that promotes greater resident participation in making building safety discussions.
2. Periodically review and update the strategy (as necessary).
3. Consult residents on the strategy and take representations into account when updating it.
4. Act in accordance with the adopted resident engagement strategy.

The Building Safety Act expects the strategy to include details of the information to be shared with residents concerning how the building is to be managed, those areas that they will be consulted on, along with how resident participation will be promoted, measured and reviewed. Once the adopted strategy is available, a copy should be provided to each resident who is over the age of 16 and resides or owns a home in the building.

As mentioned, the PAP is also expected to create and operate a complaints process, enabling the investigation of building safety risk and AP/PAP performance concerns. In some cases, clients have set up a dedicated Fire Safety Engagement Team, with resources drawn from across the wider business.

Resident engagement strategy and accessibility

The adopted resident engagement strategy should enable residents to be informed about and involved in decisions that concern the safety of their building. The AP/PAP is required to share core information with residents, about the building safety, including contact information, roles and responsibilities, resident’s rights, along with information on the measures adopted to reduce fire risk and maintain structural integrity and finally, how residents can support the AP/PAP.

In addition, residents will also be able to request further building safety information relevant to their specific building. This could include fire risk assessments (current and previous), safety case reports (current and previous), planned maintenance and repairs schedule for building safety matters, building safety inspection reports.

Most importantly, the information should be shared in an easily accessible way(s) that enables residents to understand the information shared. It should enable and encourage them to become involved and play an active role in the safety of their homes and their building, including being involved with building safety decisions.

For a further discussion on the requirements of the Building Safety Act, contact our consultancy team at buildingsafety@altairltd.co.uk 

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