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Building Safety Case and Reports

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The Building Safety Act 2022 is the most significant change to building safety in decades and we’re about to see its impact.

What is the Building Safety Act?

The BSA applies to high-risk residential buildings. It requires that risk management measures must be taken to address potential building safety risks and reduce the severity of any incident, should it occur. Risks are defined as the spread of fire (including all forms of combustion, for example smoke, fumes, and heat), or structural failure.

The Building Safety Regulator, a new construct within the HSE, will start to call in buildings for assessment and issue Building Assessment Certificates from April 2024. With a requirement to respond within 28 days, each building should have a building safety regime in place by this time. Compliance is achieved through the development of a Building Safety Case and a Building Safety Case Report.

Who does the Building Safety Act impact?

Landlords, freeholders and/or persons or organisations in charge of the repair and maintenance of high-rise residential buildings that are 18m or above, or seven or more storeys high will need to develop a building safety case and report for their buildings.

What is a Building Safety Case and a Building Safety Case Report?

Building Safety Case

A Building Safety Case is the process of pulling together any information and supporting evidence used to manage the risk of fire spread and the structural safety of your building. It provides a compelling, comprehensible and valid case that a building is safe.

Building Safety Case Report

A Building Safety Case Report summarises the arguments and evidence of the safety case and documents progress against the safety management plan. It identifies the major fire and structural hazards associated with your building and shows how any risks are being managed as far as reasonably possible to prevent a major incident.

Our approach to compliance

Our multi-disciplinary team of specialists work together to ensure compliance so you can be reassured your building is safe for occupation. 

Our team will work with you to identify any fire and structural hazards and highlight the correct course of action to manage and control them.

We bring together everything you need to present a detailed and reliable safety case and report including:

• Building information
• Risk assessment and control measures
• Safety management systems
• Reporting occurrences and complaints procedures
• Resident engagement strategy
• Evidence of all reasonable steps taken and a detailed summary to confirm, if and why the building is safe to occupy and, if required, what further control measures are required

Making complex easy

Assessing building safety is a complex interplay between fire and structural risk management. A comprehensive Building Safety Case and Building Safety Case Report need input from a range of technical experts to ensure every risk is identified and the right management solutions are put in place.

Uniquely, we bring significant experience of safety case preparation and Safety Case Report delivery and combine it with our fire safety and structural engineering expertise to provide a fully integrated service proposition.

Your dedicated project manager will make complex easy by connecting our full suite of in-house multi-disciplinary expertise to deliver a robust Safety Case for your building or portfolio.

Meet the team

As the Building Safety Regulator starts to call in high-risk, residential buildings for inspection, we're putting the spotlight on our Building Safety colleagues to learn how they can support clients on the pursuit of compliance and get their industry insights and predictions for the year ahead.  

Steve Wyper, Principal Consultant

Peter Atkinson, Associate Director, Structural Engineer

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7 signs you have the right BSA consultant

Building Safety Act (BSA) compliance is complex. With a lot of boxes to tick to comply, not getting it right first time will be a costly mistake.

The consultant you choose to help you compile your Building Safety Case and Report will play a key role in your success. But what does good look like when it comes to BSA support and how can you be sure to choose wisely?

We've put together a useful guide to show you what a BSA consultant will do to help you reach compliance. 

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Building Safety Act 2022: Safety Case Report

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Under the Building Safety Act 2022, a number of new roles and responsibilities have been introduced relating to high-rise residential properties. These duties relate to the management of risk and prevention strategies to avoid and reduce the impact of potential incidents. The Building Safety Act aims to limit the consequences should an incident occur relating to fire safety (which includes smoke, heat, fumes and any form of combustion) or structural failure of a high-rise building. 

One of the new responsibilities is the requirement to produce and maintain a Safety Case Report.

The Principal Accountable Person (this can be an organisation, business or an individual who will be responsible for reducing and monitoring building safety risks and actioning the requirements of the Building Safety Act) for occupied buildings with at least two residential units and of a height of at least 18m or seven storeys (Higher-Risk Building) must prepare a Safety Case Report. Completing the Safety Case Report is an essential exercise as it will be required for applications for a building assessment certificate (a certificate confirming that the Building Safety Regulator is satisfied that the required duties have been complied with). 

The Safety Case Report must provide evidence of:

• The assessment of all building safety (including fire and structural) risks and;
• All reasonable steps that have or will be taken to control these risks (including prevention measures and measures to limit the severity of the potential consequences to these risks). 

The Building Safety Regulator (a new government body which sits within the Health and Safety Executive that will regulate high-rise buildings in the UK) must be notified as soon as reasonably practicable once a Safety Case Report has been prepared (or revised). Where the Building Safety Regulator requests a Safety Case Report, the same must be provided as soon as reasonably practicable.

There are currently no plans for a template Safety Case Report to be provided and the legislation around the report is still being developed. The requirements may therefore be subject to change. 

Current information suggests that Safety Case Reports should, as a general guide, include the following information:

• The building name, postal address and images showing the location of the building (including a description of the wider development and any shared facilities if applicable).
• The building owner;
• The Principal Accountable Person;
• Other Accountable Persons;
• The responsible persons(s) under the FSO (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005) where different;
• Details of any third parties involved with producing the Safety Case Report.
• Description of the building and its development (including height, storeys, number of dwellings, resident profile, external walling systems etc.).
• Current control measures;
• Action identified or to be implemented in future;
• Identify how things might go wrong, what could make it worse, potential consequences, any mitigating actions;
• Fire strategy;
• Review and maintenance of the structural integrity of the building.
• Description of surveys or investigations carried out.
• ​​​Roles and responsibilities of key personnel;
• Competency of key personnel;
• Performance monitoring;
• Risk assessment;
• Maintenance;
• Management;
• Emergency planning. 
• Emergency arrangements.
• Reporting procedure for complaints and occurrences.
• Details of the resident engagement strategy.

The key with the Safety Case Report is to evidence that the Accountable Person(s) has(ve) considered the major fire and structural hazards/risks and how the risks are being and will be managed and controlled. It should also identify how and when the report will be reviewed. The Safety Case Report can then be used as a tool to show that all reasonable steps have been, and will continue to be, taken to manage building safety risks.

The importance of becoming familiar with the Building Safety Act and what is required is absolutely crucial to businesses of all shapes and sizes in the construction Industry. 

It therefore cannot be overstated - do not leave it until it is too late – take notice of what is required to comply with Building Safety requirements and take steps to put in place systems and controls so you are able to demonstrate compliance.

Further information and guidance on the Building Safety Act can be found on the Health and Safety Executive Website: Building safety - HSE or by contacting Hill Dickinson LLP Construction team .

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Buildings Safety Regulator (BSR) Publishes Safety Case Toolkit – Reasonable Steps & Practical Examples

• Safety case toolkit - Reasonable steps and practical examples

The BSR has today published a ‘Safety Case Toolkit’ guide aimed at accountable persons to assist them in preparing a safety case report.

• Legislation, Regulations & Guidance
• Dutyholders
• Regulations and Guidance
• Golden Thread & Safety Management Systems

The information within the guide is aimed at accountable persons (defined under section 84 of the Building Safety  Act 2022) to assist them in preparing a safety case report. A safety case report must demonstrate that all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent building safety risks happening and reduce the seriousness if they do.

The guide gives examples of common situations that APs may find in existing buildings to help them decide what steps are reasonable to take to manage and mitigate risk. This does not necessarily mean expensive and extensive work is needed but promotes a proportionate approach to the risk.

Each example in the guide gives a flowchart that suggests short and longer term actions to manage/mitigate risk. The guide is designed so APs can refer to the particular situations that are relevant to them.

Access the guide here .

Further resources from the BSR can be found here .

Building Safety Case Report: Everything you need to know

Compliance, industry news.

To improve the safety of residents, the latest Building Safety Act 2022 updates have added major new responsibilities for Accountable Persons and building owners, including creating a Building Safety Case Report.

From April 2023 up until the 1 st of October 2023, Principle Accountable Persons in England must register high-rise residential buildings using a dedicated online portal . Once the first step is complete, a Building Safety Case and Building Safety Case Report will have to be compiled and submitted to the BSR for review. If the building is deemed safe and compliant, a Building Assessment Certificate will be issued, certifying its safety.

Building Safety Case Report Timeline

For those tempted to ignore or delay this process, it is worth noting that failing to register and secure a Building Assessment Certificate will be a criminal offence.

In this article, we will help you understand the process of compiling a Building Safety Case and Building Safety Case Report and offer advice relevant to assessing your smoke control systems as a part of the report.

Who is the Accountable Person (AP) and Principle Accountable Person (PAP)?

To begin with, it is important to understand the key roles within a building and what each one means. In every building, there are people with different responsibilities that ensure its smooth operation and safety.

Who is the Accountable Person (AP)?

Accountable Persons (APs) were introduced as dutyholders for residential high-rise buildings (HRBs) by part 4 of The Building Safety Act. APs can be organizations, businesses, or individuals who own, have responsibility for, or maintain HRBs, including common areas like corridors and lobbies. Their primary duties are:

• to prevent building safety risks, specifically the spread of fire and structural failure, by taking all reasonable steps to mitigate these risks
• work to reduce the seriousness of an accident in case one occurs

Who is the Principle Accountable Person (PAP)?

When a building has only one Accountable Person, they are also deemed the Principal Accountable Person (PAP). However, in buildings where there is more than one AP, the APs responsible for the structure and exterior of the building are appointed as Principal Accountable Persons (PAPs). On top of their AP duties, PAPs must also:

• register existing buildings with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) between April 2023 and October 2023
• register all new buildings before they are occupied
• prepare a safety case report for their building, demonstrating that all building safety risks have been assessed, and reasonable steps have been taken to control them
• provide this safety case report to the BSR upon request, and the BSR will review it during the building assessment process
• apply for a building assessment certificate when directed to do so by the BSR

Accountable Person (AP) vs. Principle Accountable Person (PAP)

What is a Safety Case and how is it different from a Building Safety Case Report

The Safety Case is a collection of information and documents that show the Accountable Person is actively working to find, control, and reduce the risks related to fires and the structural integrity of a building. It should provide evidence of how a system is safe and ensure that it meets certain standards and regulations.

In line with the latest government regulations, the Safety Case and all other information surrounding a building’s safety must form a ‘Golden Thread’ of digitally available building safety information. The Golden Thread is defined as the information that allows someone to understand a building and its safety measures and requirements.

The Safety Case is a structured argument, supported by evidence, that demonstrates how potential risks are identified and controlled.

How is a Building Safety Case Report different?

The main difference between a safety case and a Building Safety Case Report lies in their scope and purpose.

A Building Safety Case Report serves as a condensed overview of critical building safety information. It is a summary of the safety case that highlights the assessments conducted regarding building safety risks. Moreover, it provides a synopsis of the building’s Fire Risk Assessment and explains the emergency procedures and plans in place for the building.

While there are differences between a safety case and a Building Safety Case Report, they do overlap in certain areas. Both documents aim to identify and manage potential risks, and both require a thorough analysis of the system or building in question. Conducting and keeping a Building Safety Case up to date is essential to creating and submitting a Building Safety Case Report.

How to compile a Safety Case

Due to the structural differences in buildings, there is no template for creating building a safety case. However the HSE recommends including the following information as a minimum:

Basic Building Information:

• Number of storeys, flats, and staircases
• Construction date, design codes, and reference to building control completion certificate
• Building height, flat types, common area details, and underground levels
• Building plans (as-built and current, if refurbished)
• Details of shared facilities in wider developments
• Overview of the surrounding area
• Your Building’s Construction:

Primary load-bearing and stability systems

• Construction materials, including facade, insulation, wall attachment, roofing, and compartmentation
• Means of access and escape with travel distances
• Applicable regulations at the time of construction/refurbishment

Resident Profile:

• Consideration of residents with evacuation challenges or language barriers
• Assessment of facilities for residents with specific needs (e.g., battery-operated mobility vehicles)

Refurbishment:

• Details of refurbishment changes, whether to the entire building, common areas, or individual parts
• Assessment of how refurbishments align with safety standards and impact building safety management

Fire Prevention and Protective Measures:

• Information on fire prevention and protective measures, including design, specification, fire strategy, and fire risk assessment
• Confirmation of proper installation, functionality, and maintenance of these measures
• Understanding of how these measures contribute to the overall fire strategy

Structural Safety:

• Information on the building’s structural components and systems, including primary load-bearing, stability systems, and secondary systems
• Consequence class based on Approved Document A and corresponding measures
• Details about foundations and findings from structural surveys or inspections
• Ongoing structural safety information and challenges, if any

Services and Utilities:

• Details of utilities such as electricity, water, gas, telephone, internet, and alternative energy sources
• Supply entry points, isolation methods, and supplier contact information
• Responsibilities for maintenance and repairs, including where the supplier’s responsibility begins
• Identification of gas supply to individual flats and its impact on building safety

Maintenance and Inspection:

• Maintenance and inspection requirements for building and equipment
• Plans for managing maintenance issues and ensuring competence of those involved
• Relevant policies and procedures from the organization’s safety management system

This information is vital for maintaining building safety and fulfilling requirements under the Building Safety Act. Keep in mind that specific details needed may vary based on the building’s characteristics and history.

What if the information is not available?

In some buildings, especially older ones, some essential documents and information may not be available. If this happens, Accountable Persons must prove they have taken all reasonable steps to find the information, including:

• Searching archived paper-based storage
• Requesting planning authority records
• Requesting building control records
• Contacting previous owners

The building’s age and information about any refurbishments should help you find out what regulations and standards were in place at the time of construction and renovation. You may need to perform system assessments to determine whether your system matches these regulations and classifies as compliant.

How to proceed if the Safety Case highlights problems

Unfortunately, the fire safety measures in some buildings are not up to standard and the latest regulations. If this is the case, you will be required to rectify any issues and ensure the safety of residents and the building itself.

While this may sound intimidating, it doesn’t mean that costly repair works have to happen immediately. The HSE recommend evaluating the risk any issues pose and forming a plan of action based on this information. If you are unable to rectify all faults before submitting your Building Safety Case Report, outline your plan and what is currently in place to protect the safety of residents.

If problems need to be resolved urgently, look for leasing solutions that allow you to spread payments throughout the next few years. This will help you pick high-quality products without a large capital outlay.

How to write a Building Safety Case Report

The best way to understand the Building Safety Case Report is to think of it as telling a story about the Building Safety Case. Rather than a list or table of contents, the report should present all the highlights of the safety case with links and references to detailed information. You should use the Building Safety Case Report to demonstrate your research and outline the steps you took to arrive at essential risk and safety conclusions.

Should you include the Building Safety Case in the Building Safety Case Report?

You will need a large part of the information in your Building Safety Case to create the report and evidence any claims you make. However, you will not need to include individual documents unless prompted by the BSR.

One thing you should include is a mechanism for accessing detailed information. These can be references embedded within the report, a list of supplementary materials, or direct links to specific documents or the information system where the relevant data is stored (The Golden Thread). This way, the BSR reviewers can access the comprehensive background information without having to request documents at each stage.

What to include in a Building Safety Case Report

While the HSE website states that there is no template for the report, it does offer a structure that Principle Accountable Persons can follow when creating it. Below, we have summarised each section and the key actions and documents required at each stage. The information is sourced from the HSE website and is subject to changes bade by the HSE.

General Information

Document Control:

• Add date or version numbers to documents in the safety case report.
• Include the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) and any BSR registration code.

Building Name and Address:

• Provide building name, full postal address, and a location photograph or map.
• Include descriptions for multi-block buildings and shared facilities.
• Note features in the wider area, like nearby buildings and transport routes.

Relevant Persons:

• Share contact info for the building owner, principal accountable person, other accountable persons, and responsible person(s) under FSO if different.
• Include email addresses, phone numbers, and postal addresses.
• Mention third-party consultants or contractors involved in the report.
• For mixed-use buildings, detail relevant parties.

Description of the Building:

• Mention the building’s construction date and applicable standards.
• Specify height, number of storeys, design, external wall systems, and relevant services/utilities.
• Describe any building work or refurbishments affecting safety.
• Provide flat count and resident profile, including those needing assistance in emergencies.
• Include floor plans for both original and current interior layouts.
• Consider information from BSR registration requirements as a starting point.

Risk assessment and control measures

Identify and Assess Risks:

• Describe the process used to identify and assess building safety risks.
• Explain how assessments influenced control measures already in place and actions taken or planned.
• If multiple accountable persons (APs), report on findings from each AP’s risk assessment.

Building Safety Risks:

• List and describe specific safety risks identified by the assessment.
• Identify how things might go wrong in the building, factors worsening the risks, potential consequences, and mitigation measures.

Fire Safety:

• Detail type and frequency of fire risk assessments and their rationale.
• Summarize significant findings from fire risk assessments related to building safety.
• Connect prevention and protective measures to risk assessment findings, outline operational systems, and describe inspection and testing protocols.

Structural Integrity:

• Explain how structural condition is identified and maintained.
• For new buildings, reference initial design and construction information.
• Include Approved Document A consequence class, key structural elements, stability systems, construction materials, foundation details, findings from safety assessments, and structural surveys.
• Describe any structural surveys, reasons for their approach, findings, and plans for monitoring or future surveys.
• Outline remedial actions for identified structural problems, completion timelines, and interim measures.

Maintenance:

• Describe measures for ongoing maintenance and inspection to ensure prevention and protective measures and building integrity.
• Explain how maintenance and inspections are managed, monitored, and tracked to completion.
• Provide examples of effective maintenance systems, such as electrical system inspections and their scheduling, responsible parties, review processes, and management of change procedures.
• Discuss how inaccessible areas or systems are addressed.
• Highlight progress monitoring and reporting at senior management meetings, along with document management procedures.

Safety management system

Safety Management System (SMS):

• Include an overview of your SMS in the safety case report.
• Provide information about roles and responsibilities of key personnel related to building safety.
• Ensure key personnel and contractors possess the necessary competency.
• Address performance monitoring and review within the SMS.
• Cover aspects such as risk assessment, maintenance, management of change, and emergency planning.
• Reference detailed information on SMS in Safety Management Systems resources.

Change Management:

• Describe how changes to the building are managed, considering both their impact once complete and during implementation.
• Include the process for evaluating changes’ impact on building safety risks and the safety case report.
• Highlight examples of effective change management.
• Emphasize how changes are assessed and controlled, especially regarding temporary changes, construction work, and emergency arrangements.
• Refer to Safety Management Systems resources for more on change management.

Emergency Arrangements:

• Explain the emergency arrangements for building occupants, considering prevention and protective measures in place.
• Account for residents’ profiles, including their ability to self-evacuate, cognitive abilities, and language proficiency.
• Describe communication strategies for conveying emergency arrangements to residents and, when appropriate, to emergency services.
• Ensure that emergency plans are tailored to the building’s unique safety features and the needs of its residents.

Reporting occurrences and complaints

Mandatory Occurrence Reporting:

• Provide an overview of your organization’s mandatory occurrence reporting system, as outlined in legislation.
• Explain how this system is communicated to other accountable persons and the arrangements for reporting required occurrences to BSR.
• Summarize any reports submitted since the last safety case report, including any identified learning points or remedial actions resulting from incidents.

Complaints:

• Describe the system in place for investigating relevant complaints, as defined by legislation.
• Include provisions for referring complaints to BSR when necessary.
• Provide a summary of relevant complaints received since the new regime started or since the last safety case report submission, along with details on how these complaints were resolved.

Voluntary Occurrence Reporting:

• Explain any additional voluntary occurrence reporting arrangements in compliance with legislation.

Residents’ voice

Resident Engagement Strategy:

• Explain the strategy for engaging with residents in your building, focusing on effective communication of building safety information.
• Describe how communication methods are tailored to meet residents’ varying needs, taking into account their stage of occupancy.
• Highlight plans for future communication or consultation.
• Provide summaries of resident feedback, including survey results and events.
• Outline the process for consulting with residents in the event of changes to building management.
• Detail how residents can raise concerns and the process for investigating and addressing those concerns.

Demonstrate you have taken all reasonable steps

Demonstration of Managing Building Safety Risks:

• Showcase all reasonable steps taken to manage building safety risks on an ongoing basis.
• Describe how the measures in place effectively manage the unique risks of the building.
• Explain specific risk management approaches, such as accommodating different standards in various building parts due to modifications or addressing location or emergency services access challenges.
• If relevant, clarify why certain seemingly obvious measures (like removing combustible materials) aren’t feasible in this particular case.

Ongoing Work and Continuous Improvement:

• Acknowledge challenges discovered during research and evidence gathering for the safety case report.
• Address issues with existing control measures that necessitate remedial action.
• Identify additional reasonable steps to manage building safety risks.
• Provide information on planned or ongoing works, their completion timelines, and any interim measures in place.
• Ensure the report instills confidence in BSR that risks are being appropriately addressed and mitigated.
• Briefly outline how and when the safety case report will undergo review.

Key takeaways about the Building Safety Case Report

We covered a lot of ground in this article, and we won’t blame you if you are suffering from information overload by now. Let’s look at a quick summary of the most important information:

• The Building Safety Act of 2022 introduced significant responsibilities for Accountable Persons (APs) and building owners to enhance resident safety.
• Starting from April 2023 until October 1, 2023, Principal Accountable Persons must register high-rise residential buildings via an online portal.
• Following this, a Building Safety Case and Building Safety Case Report must be compiled and submitted to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) for assessment, leading to the issuance of a Building Assessment Certificate if deemed safe and compliant.
• Failing to register and obtain this certificate will become a criminal offense.

The building registration process was put in place to ensure that all buildings meet safety standards and have necessary permits. Without proper registration, buildings may not be monitored for safety and could pose risks to occupants.

Following the advice from the Building Safety Case Report is crucial for maintaining a safe building environment. By conducting thorough assessments, implementing emergency response plans, performing regular maintenance, and keeping accurate records, Principle Accountable Persons can ensure the safety and well-being of everyone within the building.

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Building Safety Act 2022

Building safety regulator, building safety case.

• Building Safety Case Report

FAQ – Related Questions

What is a building safety case report.

The Health and Safety Executive has recently released a document titled Principles of Safety Case which provides definitions for the terms Safety Case and Safety Case Report.

“The  Safety Case  is all the information you use to manage the risk of fire spread and the structural safety of your building. In the proposed new safety case regime, you will use some of the information as evidence to demonstrate (or justify) how you are preventing major accidents in your building and limiting their consequences.”

In order to create a Safety Case, one must detail the primary hazards for potential accidents in the building as well as the measures currently implemented to minimize risk and avoid any major incidents. It should be emphasized that this Safety Case stipulation is not intended to supersede any pre-existing legal requirements.

Once your safety case is in place, the next step is to create a comprehensive Building Safety Case Reportto be sent to the BSR. This report is not a mere compilation of all safety related data, it should be concise and effortless for readers to grasp the information collected and evaluated.

“The  Building Safety Case Report is a document that summarises your Safety Case. The Building Safety Case Report identifies the major fire and structural hazards associated with your building. It shows how you are managing the risks they present, as far as you can, to prevent a major accident.”

• Provide a concise summary of the safety case.
• Summarise the assessments conducted regarding risks associated with the building.
• D etail the Fire Risk Assessment for the building.
• D escribe the emergency arrangements and plans in place.

The Building Safety Case Report explains the significance of each component of your Safety Case and its contribution to the safety of the building’s occupants. Furthermore, it must demonstrate the efficacy of the measures proposed in the Safety Case in managing and mitigating risks that could lead to a catastrophic incident.

The Building Safety Case Report is not a single-use document; it requires regular revisions to reflect any changes that occur in the building, its hazards, and its management.

The Building Safety Regulator has mandated that administrators in charge of structures comprising seven or more levels have to furnish a Safety Case Report. To ensure that this report is timely and current, a Principal Accountable Person has been appointed.

Not submitting an incomplete Building Safety Case Report constitutes a punishable act as per the Building Safety Act 2022. Hence, it is imperative for safety managers of high-rise residential structures to satisfy all the prerequisites. The following are the contents that your Building Safety Case Report ought to encompass.

It is advisable to create a concise safety case report that is smaller in size compared to the safety case. To make it clearer and more succinct for the BSR to understand, compile brief summaries of your data. This approach enables them to quickly determine if you meet the regulatory requirements.

Don’t let the overwhelming information intimidate you. Check out our safety case infographic to simplify the report’s complex parts and guide you towards the right course.

What Types of Buildings does it affect?

Buildings eligible for consideration are those that have a minimum of seven storeys or are at least 18 metres tall and have at least two residential units (HRRBs). This includes multi-use buildings that contain both residential units and shops.

Information that needs to be included in the building safety case report

A comprehensive portrayal of the building must be provided, covering its location, dimensions, purpose, occupancy, neighbouring structures, blueprints, safety protocols, as well as the principal individuals overseeing the facility’s upkeep and administration. Accompanying images, videos, and diagrams are hereby deemed supportive elements to accentuate the descriptive features.

The identification of risks pertaining to safety is a crucial aspect of the report. It is important to highlight risks related to fire spread and structural safety that might pose a threat to the building. The report must consider a worst-case scenario and analyse various factors leading up to it. The severity of the impact, in terms of the number of individuals affected and the gravity of consequences, must also be considered.

The report will detail the safety measures implemented to address potential fire and structural accidents in the building. It will provide a comprehensive description of the structure, its features, and potential hazards before listing the measures put in place to prevent or alleviate the impact of such incidents. The measures may include fire compartmentalization, warning mechanisms and evacuation protocols, smoke management systems, emergency lighting, among others.

As a Building Safety Manager (BSM) or Responsible Person, it is crucial to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the safety measures in place to address a catastrophic event. While the following list is not exhaustive, it is critical to determine whether the existing measures are up to par. The report must demonstrate that the safety measures are appropriately maintained and will function when needed.

What purpose does a Building Safety Case Report serve?

Building Safety Case Reports are now mandatory when managing High-Rise Residential Buildings (HRRBs), as part of the safety case regime. Such regimes have typically only applied to industries with high hazards, where serious consequences from a single event or series of linked events are anticipated.

It was the Grenfell Tower Fire incidence of 2017 that highlighted the fact that HRRBs can result in significant loss of life, particularly when the fire extends beyond its initial location. This was a major disaster.

The construction of an establishment and the report on its safety case are imperative responsibilities mandated by the Building Safety Act. This act addresses flaws found in previous building laws, thereby eliminating the likelihood of catastrophic occurrences.

Who do you submit the building case report?

The building Safety Case Report will need to be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR)

Assessment and verification of your system’s capability to manage, control, and mitigate major fire and structural risks will be done by utilizing the report.

The information enclosed in this report can be accessed by anyone who has an interest in it, such as tenants of the building, officials in charge of enforcing regulations, or potential purchasers of the property.

The report should instil reassurance in both the BSR and the building residents that any fire or structural hazards within the building have been identified and are being sufficiently managed, regardless of who holds the report.

The guidance covers what you need to know and do in this area and is broken down in five further areas:

• Building information
• Identify risks.
• Risk prevention and protective measures
• Safety management systems

What should I be doing now?

It is crucial to ensure your full compliance with the new legal obligations It is imperative to have proper administration and operational procedures in order, Make sure to carefully review your Fire Risk Assessments to ensure that they meet the requirements of the Fire Safety Act 2021.

We recommend that you consider the following questions if you haven’t done so already.

• What information do you know about your building ?
• Do you know the exact height of your building ?
• Do you have accurate and detailed floor plans?
• In case of an emergency, what are the measures to make this information available to the fire safety authorities in a prompt and efficient manner?
• How will this factor affect your Fire Risk Assessments?

To Summarise

In summary, the regulations have been implemented from 23rd January 2023. The Responsible Person must fulfil new and distinct obligations to conform to the legislation and maintain the highest level of safety in residential buildings depending on their height.

We comprehend the difficulties faced by landlords and property owners, and our guiding principle revolves around becoming your reliable and unparalleled specialist.

Our services aim to assist you in adhering to current and upcoming regulations, while also striving to maximise the safety of your premises and occupants. We offer expert guidance and assistance throughout the entire process.

Contact our team to speak with a professional who can advise you on your safety responsibilities.

Contact our department dedicated to building safety case reports.

At Fire Safety Services, we pride ourselves in being a reliable and trustworthy safety partner. We are committed to helping you fulfil your safety responsibilities by ensuring full compliance.

Don’t hesitate to reach out and speak to our team of experts.

We are eager to discuss the ways in which we can assist you with your safety case report, as well as guide you through your building safety journey.

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What buildings are in scope?

In scope are buildings that have at least seven storeys or at least 18 metres in height and have at least two residential units (HRRBs). Multi-use buildings, for example, those containing both residential units and shops, are included.

What information is included in a Building Safety Case Report?

A Safety Case Report should include, but not limited to, the following: Clear description of the building This includes the building address, size, use and density, surrounding buildings, building plans, fire safety information, and key people involved with the building's management and maintenance regime. Photographs, videos, and plans may also be included to support the descriptions.

Identification of safety risks The report should reflect the identified risks of major accidents that involve fire spread and structural safety that could affect the building. The report can entail considering a worst-case scenario, the factors that lead to it, and how significant the impact would be in terms of the number of people in the building affected and how serious the consequences will be for them.

Safety measures and adequacy Having a clear description of the building, its features, and risks, the report will then enumerate the safety measures that are in place to prevent, minimise or mitigate the effect of major fire and structural accidents. A few examples include fire compartmentation, warning systems and evacuation plans, smoke control systems, emergency lighting and the like. This is by no means a complete list of safety measures, and as a Building Safety Manager (BSM) or Responsible Person, one must thoroughly assess if the safety measures currently in place are adequate to deal with a worst-case scenario. How the safety measures are maintained, and that these measures will work when needed must be demonstrated in the report.

What is the purpose of a Building safety Case report?

Creating a Safety Case Report is part of the safety case regime that is now being required for the management of High-Rise Residential Buildings (HRRBs). Previously, Safety Case regimes have only been for high hazard industries, where the potential consequences of a serious single event or linked series of events are understood to be high. However, the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017 demonstrated that great loss of life can manifest in HRRBs especially when a fire spreads far beyond its point of origin (Major accident).

As a BSM or Responsible Person, responsible for a high-rise residential building, through the Safety Case Report, you demonstrate that you are actively keeping your building safe, that you have the necessary measures implemented to prevent a major accident or mitigate its risks, and that you are managing these measures on an ongoing basis to ensure that they will work in the event that these will be needed.

Who will see the Building Safety Case Report?

The Safety Case Report will be provided to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). They will use the report to assess and verify your systems for managing, controlling, and mitigating major fire and structural risks.

This report may also be provided to parties interested in the information contained therein, including residents of the building, enforcement officers or future buyers of the property.

Why Fire Consultancy Specialists?

You need a reliable partner, who is competent to assess the building's safety risk holistically and prepare an accurate, factual and detailed Safety Case Report which includes all the requirements as previously mentioned. FCS understands that this is more than a technical document to be submitted to a regulator. With our expertise in fire consultancy, we ensure that your building safety information will be presented in a clear and succinct document backed by relevant inspections which provide a ‘Golden Thread’ of information, reflecting the buildings’ risk (i.e. Fire Risk Assessments, Compartmentation Surveys, Intumescent Steels, External Wall Systems, Fire Safety Management Plans etc). All of which are conducted thoroughly by competent expert fire consultants, professionally and with integrity.

This page   contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government   Licence . You can download the original here

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• Housing, local and community
• Planning and building
• Building regulation

Safety case for a high-rise residential building

Responsibilities of accountable persons for a building’s safety case.

Applies to England

Purpose of a safety case.

As an accountable person , you must keep and update certain information about the building and the parts of the building you are responsible for.

The information forms part of the building’s safety case, which is used to manage the risk of the spread of fire or structural failure.

The principal accountable person must use the safety case to prepare a safety case report .

Information you must keep

You must keep information for the safety case up to date and in an easily accessible, digital format. If you stop being an accountable person, you must pass your safety case information to the accountable person who replaces you.

Basic building information

You must keep basic information about the building, which includes:

• the building’s height and the number of floors, residential units, and staircases
• when the building was built
• relevant design codes or standards
• building control body completion certificates (where available)
• plans of the building

You must also keep information about shared facilities like car parks and a description of the wider area, which can include:

• nearby high-rise residential buildings, schools, or care homes
• transport routes like roads or railway tracks

Newer buildings

Buildings built after 2005 that involved more than one contractor will have a health and safety file (legislation.gov.uk) .

The owner of the building keeps this file when construction is completed. If ownership of the building changes, you must pass the health and safety file to the new owner.

Your building’s construction

You must keep information about how your building was built, and the methods and materials used, for example:

• a description of the primary load-bearing system, for example, pre-cast planks on a steel frame
• a description of the stability system, for example, concrete shear walls
• the materials used on the outside of the building
• the roofing material
• the insulation material
• access and escape routes
• a description of the fire compartmentation

Refurbishment and other changes

You must keep information about any building work or refurbishment that may affect building safety risks in your part of the building. This can include work on the whole building, common areas or individual parts like residential units.

Examples of the type of information you need to keep are:

• the completion certificate for the refurbishment work
• updated plans of the building
• specification or certification for important materials like replacement cladding

Resident profile

You should keep information about your residents that can have an impact on building safety risks and emergency plans, for example, residents:

• who cannot evacuate without help
• whose first language is not English

You should ask your residents to provide you with this information. You can use various ways to collect this information including post, email or meetings.

Services and utilities

Your building may have utilities like electricity, water, gas, telephone, and internet. You should keep information about:

• where the supply enters the building
• where and how it can be isolated
• the name and contact details of the supplier
• what the supplier’s responsibility for maintenance is
• who carries out the maintenance and repairs

Your building plans should show, for example:

• plant rooms and incoming supplies
• identify pipes and cable routes

Your building may have cables, ducts, and pipes that pass through fire compartment barriers. If this is the case, you need to get assurance that fire stopping has been completed to an appropriate standard. You can find this information from specifications, certifications, and surveying examples.

There might be services close to your building like an electrical substation nearby or communications equipment on the roof. Even if you can not control or access these areas, you should still keep information about how they can affect the building’s safety.

Assessing risks

You must assess the building safety risks for the parts of the building that you are responsible for. Keep a record of every risk assessment.

You must carry out risk assessments:

• at regular intervals
• when you think the current assessment is no longer valid
• when asked to do so by the Building Safety Regulator

You must keep track of any actions or recommendations from the risk assessment. Continue to track them until they have been resolved. Make sure that you store and maintain any new information.

Structural safety

You must keep information about your building’s structural condition.

Keep information about:

• any previous structural surveys or inspections
• how you will manage any materials or techniques with known challenges like large panel systems
• any existing programmes of inspection or monitoring relating to structural safety

You can read more about assessing safety risks in the building safety guides for accountable persons.

Managing risks

You must describe the measures you have in place to prevent building safety risks from happening and reduce the severity of any incident that does happen.

You need to keep a record of all the safety measures, which includes:

• their design and installation
• how they control building safety risks
• their current condition
• how they are managed and maintained
• any impact on them from building alterations or refurbishments

You can read more about managing safety risks in the building safety guides for accountable persons.

Safety management system

You must plan, organise, control, monitor and review the measures you have taken to manage the safety risks in your parts of the building. The way to do this is referred to as a safety management system.

You do not have to follow any particular management system. If there are multiple accountable persons for a building, you do not have to use the same management system, but you should coordinate with each other when necessary.

You can read more about safety management systems in the building safety guides for accountable persons.

Missing information

To find missing building information you can check:

• archived paper-based storage
• planning authority records
• building control records

You should check that any historic documents remain valid, particularly if your building has been refurbished or altered.

You must keep a record of the steps you have taken to find missing information. You can use it to demonstrate what you have done to find missing information to the Building Safety Regulator.

Finding safety issues

When gathering information about the building, you may find problems, for example:

• discovering that a control measure thought to be in place is not in place
• investigations identifying unresolved issues with control measures

If you find a safety issue, you should record if any work or action is needed, how long it will take, and whether you need to take any additional measures in the meantime.

If any work is not completed when the principal accountable person needs to submit the building’s safety case report, you should provide an action plan to show what work needs to be done, how it will be done and the timescale for completion. The action plan should also include details of any interim measures to control the risk until the work is complete.

Other legislation

You must still comply with other law that applies to buildings, including health and safety, fire and housing requirements.

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How to prepare safety cases for residential buildings

Sponsored by Adelard 2023-01-26T13:28:00+00:00

Adelard shares its approach to building safety case assurances

The housing sector is undergoing a systematic change to how it manages safety, following the tragic events at Grenfell Tower in 2017 and the subsequent changes made by the UK government to implement the recommendations set out by Dame Judith Hackitt.

New regulations post-Grenfell - such as the Building Safety Act 2022 – now require landlords to demonstrate that building safety risks to residents are being managed and reduced as far as possible. Building safety covers those risks to residents that can result in multiple fatalities – in particular, risks of fire spread and structural collapse.

“It is essential that this industry now works to implement a truly robust and assured approach to building the increasingly complex structures in which people live.” Building a Safer Future: Final Report - Dame Judith Hackitt

This assured perspective conveyed by Hackitt and put in place by the Building Safety Act 2022 is a step change in approach, moving beyond a merely compliance-focused viewpoint towards that of system safety.

The act has made ground-breaking reforms when it comes to giving residents and homeowners more rights, power, and protection, being able to raise concerns and have their voices heard and it seeks to create a lasting change, making clear how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained, and made safe.

Driven by the Hackitt report, industry responses such as PAS 8673 on building safety competencies, and the new regulation, there is an accompanying cultural shift underway in the housing sector from compliance-based approaches to safety towards a more holistic system safety viewpoint. This system safety approach requires building owners to be able to demonstrate that they have a real understanding of building risks and how they are being managed.

The new Building Safety Regulator has defined key milestones for building safety adoption:

New requirement to develop a safety case for higher risk buildings

As required by the Act, the new safety case approach is a key mechanism by which landlords and homeowners will demonstrate how they have identified, managed, and controlled potential hazards and risks within their buildings. They must present safety case reports at regular intervals to the regulator to demonstrate that such risks are being effectively controlled and managed.

A safety case is the robust “safety story” that explains why a building is acceptably safe for residential occupation. It presents key safety claims of what is achieved by the safety arrangements for that building, and how risks have been systematically identified, assessed, and managed over the life of the building.

To make the safety story robust and defensible, often it is presented in the form of a explicit, structured safety arguments with evidence to communicate the story. In the gaps between the safety argument, we want to make and the safety argument we can support with evidence; a safety case approach helps us identify systematic improvements to our safety arrangements.

Adelard’s safety case offering and tool

Risk management specialist, Adelard, is supporting landlords to meet these incoming requirements and develop a robust safety case approach; serving their clients with mentoring and guidance on how to meet incoming regulations, software tool support, and reviews of their existing processes and safety management arrangements.

Adelard’s industry standard software tool - the Assurance and Safety Case Environment ( ASCE ) - is a widely adopted commercial tool for the creation and management of safety and assurance cases. It helps to reduce risks by communicating the safety status of the building system by means of a robust safety argument and evidence.

ASCE presents an integrated view of the required safety related information about the building and the management processes that implement the safety program. Having the ability to view the entire safety argument helps to identify issues which may need further attention to minimise risk in the future. From this safety case, landlords can generate a safety case report for approval, review or sharing with external stakeholders, such as the regulator.

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With the Building Safety Act 2022 now in place, the housing industry is in a transition phase to a safety case approach. Developing competency of system safety as it applies to higher risk buildings is a key challenge for the sector, but this is an important component to raise the level of safety capability so that the safety of these buildings can be explicitly owned by landlords and effectively communicated and managed.

Adelard’s safety case approach is to work collaboratively with landlords and the wider housing sector, providing advice, training and guidance on system safety, safety case thinking and how these concepts can be practically applied to building safety. This includes running and facilitating workshops and training with our customers to cover the design of safety cases, the identification of evidence, and to characterise gaps in existing safety arrangements. In this way landlords can start to develop their own competencies and safety case capabilities as they identify how their existing safety evidence will support the safety story.

To get started, Adelard will propose an initial safety case outline which can be adopted, developed, and populated by the landlord, referencing existing evidence to underpin the safety story.

Adelard has been working with Clarion housing group for several years to help develop their safety case approach. Together, they developed a draft safety case for one of Clarion’s higher risk buildings , which presented a supporting argument that the building is acceptably safe for residents to occupy and use. In turn, Adelard increased Clarion’s capability to develop and maintain safety cases for the management of their higher risk buildings.

“As a responsible landlord, the safety of our residents has always been our number one priority. The findings of the Hackitt report have encouraged a new way of thinking about high-rise building safety and advocates the need to consider buildings as complex systems and to provide periodic safety cases that demonstrate building safety is being maintained. This new approach is a challenging mindset change within the sector and this was one of the reasons we reached out to the specialists at Adelard to help us with this undertaking.” Ian Morrison – Clarion Director of Property Services

Building on expertise of safety cases in other sectors

The shift in how safety cases are being applied in the housing sector is relatively new, however, Adelard’s expertise in this area draws from its many years of experience within nuclear, healthcare and rail sectors, amongst others.

As an example of applying safety case expertise in the rail sector, Altran UK - a specialist rail provider - enlisted Adelard to present a clear safety argument covering engineering management, development of products, alongside the expansion of generic safety cases. From this base, Altran UK developed the ability to set up structured arguments and evidence throughout London Underground’s Jubilee and Northern Line projects spanning from 2002 to 2014.

Within the civil nuclear sector, Adelard researches and develops approaches for the assurance of computer-based systems and supports the industry using the claims-arguments-evidence approach to develop safety cases.

This has included contracts with the Control & Instrumentation Nuclear Industry Forum (CINIF), EDF Energy, AWE and Urenco.

Adelard also regularly undertakes independent assessments of smart devices for use in power plants. A key tool for some of these assessments is the Emphasis tool, which is maintained by Adelard. This allows assessments to be recorded, and evidence maintained.

New infusion pumps in the medical sector require a safety case as part of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(K) submission process. Adelard regularly supports manufacturers in providing training, consultancy and the ASCE software tool to develop a safety assurance case and achieve successful submission to the regulator.

To find out more

Adelard - part of NCC Group - is a safety, security and compliance expert preparing the housing sector for change.

Visit the Adelard website for more information on how Adelard can help you to meet the challenges of the new building safety regulations.

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