The Building Safety Act 2022 has caused seismic change in how safety standards are set, met and assessed for high-rise residential buildings. Introduced following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Act aims to create long-lasting change, with a focus on making it clear how residential buildings should be maintained and made safe.
To make that change a reality, the Building Safety Regulator has a mammoth task ahead of itself: assessing the safety of all registered high-rise residential buildings, usually over 18 metres high or with more than six storeys. In the coming months and years, the Regulator will be inviting each registered building to be assessed against detailed criteria.
Where a building passes the assessment and meets the required standards, in time the Regulator will issue it with a Building Assessment Certificate (BAC). That certificate signifies the building is compliant with all necessary building codes, standards and regulations.
All high-rise residential buildings had to be registered with the regulator by October 2023. Using this register, the Regulator has begun inviting ‘principal accountable persons’ (PAPs) to apply for a BAC for each individual high-rise residential building they are responsible for.
This is a staggered process, with the Regulator beginning by inviting buildings considered a ‘priority’ because of certain factors from the height of the building and number of residential units, through to the type of cladding used or the age of the building and certain infrastructure.
It’s not possible to apply to the Regulator to begin the assessment process, but instead each PAP must wait to be invited for each building to be assessed.
When the Regulator does get in touch, inviting the building to be assessed, the PAP will have only 28 days to submit the information and evidence requested by the Regulator to enable them to carry out their assessment.
In many instances, it will be managing agents who are taking buildings through the assessment process as the ‘appointed person’ (AP). This is usually on behalf of the building’s freeholder, or - as known by the Building Safety Act 2022 - the PAP for the building.
That means managing agents need to be on top of the changing legislation, ready for when the Regulator invites them to begin the assessment as part of the certification process. That process involves submitting numerous documents, including:
● A Safety Case Report, which details all necessary measures that have been taken to manage the building’s safety risks.
● Evidence of ongoing safety measures in place, including information regarding Mandatory Occurrence Reporting that explains the system in place for reporting safety incidents at the building to the Regulator.
● Any Compliance Notices for the building that have been received from the Regulator.
● A Resident Engagement Strategy, which demonstrates how residents have been engaged, and informed of safety measures and how to report any safety concerns.
● Evidence of a system for sharing relevant building information with necessary parties.
There is a vast amount of documentation that must be provided, from registration information right though to structural safety measures in place and plans of the building. As a result, there are also often queries from the Regulator that need to be fielded to keep the process moving too.
As the AP, the managing agent must manage this and also demonstrate there is a Building Safety Manager responsible for overseeing safety measures and compliance. The managing agent is responsible for this and may appoint a Building Safety Manager to take on this duty.
Given the short 28-day timeframe to respond to the invitation from the Regulator, at Encore we’ve focussed on ensuring everything is in place to be able to respond promptly.
Despite the depth and breadth of criteria required by the assessment process, it’s a challenge Encore has been well-equipped for, and one which our teams have diligently prepared for since the Act came into force. For each high-rise residential building we manage, we’ve been preparing all the information – ahead of time – that will be required by the Regulator when they do invite us to begin the assessment process.
That will all be put into practice as we've been invited by the Regulator to submit the required information for assessment for twenty-six high-rise buildings we manage.
“For each of these buildings we've been prepared for this milestone and - thanks to the expertise of the team right across Encore - we’ve been able to swiftly submit the required information to the Regulator well ahead of the provided timeframe,” explains Encore CEO, Joaquim Fillola.
"Over the past few years, we’ve worked incredibly hard to ensure all our high-rise buildings have been correctly remediated. That alone has involved a huge amount of work, with remediation projects involving securing funding and navigating many challenges.
Along with obtaining any missing information, we’ve been able to produce a clear, well-compiled and extensive Safety Case Report for each building.
And we’ve kept residents in the loop throughout the journey. Not only as a requirement in preparation for the BAC assessment process, but because it matters to us that residents are engaged in the process and aware of action being taken. As part of that, we’ve designed and implemented a simple and engaging resident strategy to ensure residents are informed, listened to, and consulted.
All of that has meant we’re prepared ahead of the assessment for each building, in a way that has been as frictionless as possible for our clients and leaseholders where the process has begun.”
There are more buildings under our management which we are applying the same diligence to, ensuring they are also in the strongest position possible to undergo the Regulator’s assessment when they are invited to. And, as Fillola explains, we’ll also be applying our expertise to act upon any feedback provided by the Regulator and residents:
“We’re continuing to invest our skills, professionalism and knowledge to make high-rise buildings compliant. We’re prioritising the security and safety of residents, whilst making sure costs are being kept reasonable and proportionate. It’s a fine balance, but one we’re navigating with the utmost care.
Right now, we’re delighted that the buildings under our management are being afforded huge peace of mind even before the assessment process because they know everything is in place and ready when the Regulator’s invitation comes through – as it has done already for the buildings that have started the assessment process.”
