On 23 January the Government laid the Higher-Risk Buildings (Key Building Information etc.) Regulations 2023 in Parliament. The regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure, meaning they must be debated and approved by both Houses of Parliament before they can become law. A copy of the regulations can be found and the associated explanatory memorandum can be found. A copy of the Government’s response to the consultation on the regulations can be found.
The regulations set out the high-level information (the key building information) that the principal accountable person (the person responsible for the repair of the structure and exterior of the building) will have to provide to the Building Safety Regulator. The regulations also clarify the parts of a higher-risk building for which accountable persons are responsible, when there are multiple accountable persons.
Key building information
The key building information is high-level information that will enable the Building Safety Regulator to:
- Analyse trends and risks in high-rise residential buildings;
- Prioritise the assessment of the fire and structural safety in existing high-rise residential buildings and so effectively tranche the call-in and assessment of safety case reports; and
- Identify similar buildings or systems if an issue emerges.
Building safety management
The key building information is high-level information and will not contain all the information that will be required in the golden thread. Clarifying the parts of a building for which accountable persons are responsible is essential where there is more than one accountable person involved in the ownership of a higher-risk building.
The regulations will enable those involved in the building safety management of a higher-risk building to identify which accountable person is responsible for a particular part of a building. Laying these regulations is part of the Government’s ongoing reforms to ensure that everyone’s home is safe. These are the second set of regulations. The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023 were laid in December 2022 and are still subject to parliamentary approval.
