High-risk buildings responsibility regulations enter parliament

Rules to help identify those responsible for high-risk buildings started their passage through Parliament on Monday (23 January).

Following a government consultation last year the Higher-Risk Buildings (Key Building Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 have been introduced to the Houses of Parliament.

Both houses must now debate and approve the rules before they become law.

The regulations will ensure those responsible for the repair of the interior and exterior of higher-risk buildings are identified.

If multiple people are responsible for a higher-risk building the regulations will clarify which parts each person is accountable for.

The rules will also set out the high-level information the responsible person will need to provide to the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

This will encompass key information and will not cover everything required in the golden thread.

The BSR will use this high-level information to: analyse trends and risks; prioritise fire and structural safety assessment in existing structures; and should an issue emerge, identify similar buildings or systems that might also be affected.

Being able to identify the responsible person/s and providing key information to the BSR is required under the Building Safety Act 2022.

Th Act was brought in following Dame Judith Hackitt’s recommendations in her Building a Safer Future report after the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

A Government note explaining the purpose of the key building information regulations states: “Dame Judith identified serious issues with the transparency of information, and inadequate audit trails of information throughout the life cycle of a building that did not provide reassurance and evidence that a building has been built to be safe and continued to be safe.

“These regulations are part of the reforms the government are taking forward under the Act and introduce new requirements on those responsible for higher-risk buildings to provide the regulator with key building information.”

What constitutes a higher-risk building is laid out in regulations introduced to Parliament last year. These are the Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023.