The HSE has published new information and provided more clarity on the Safety Case, to help those who will have duties under the Building Safety Act to prepare for the new regime and manage risks effectively, with information and advice on what the Building Safety Regulator is likely to need in any submission.

We understand that there will be consultations on both the Safety Case and the Resident Engagement Strategy over the summer, where more detail will be provided. We will of course keep you updated on any new developments as they come through.

Although the Building Safety Act has become law, the duties it describes for existing occupied high-rise residential buildings have not come into force yet. Registration of existing buildings is expected to begin in April 2023, with the Building Assessment Certificate process expected to begin in April 2024. (You can read more about transitional arrangements in this factsheet published by DLUHC.)

If you manage a high-rise (seven storeys or 18m+) residential building, you’ll need to take all reasonable steps to:

• prevent any building safety incidents
• reduce the severity of an incident, should one occur

The Act defines a building safety risk as the spread of fire, or structural failure. The spread of fire includes the spread of all forms of combustion, for example smoke, fumes, and heat. In the Act, those responsible for occupied, high-rise residential buildings will be required to:

• register their building with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)
• perform a building safety risk assessment
• introduce measures to manage building safety risks
• prepare a safety case report for their building to give to BSR on request

The Building Safety Regulator will be publishing case studies and examples of proportionate responses to common situations as we develop the new regime.

In the meantime, the following documents have been published by the HSE to help the Accountable Persons’ prepare for the new regime. They contain information and advice on what the Building Safety Regulator is likely to need in any submission:

1. Building Information
2. Identifying building safety risks
3. Risk prevention and protection information
4. Safety Management Systems
5. Safety case report

We would welcome any questions or feedback on the above documents in advance of the consultations - please let us know by email, to info@irpm.org.uk, so that we may capture these ahead of the consultations.