GovWire

The accountable persons (APs) for a high-rise residential building must create and maintain documents for the building, or part of the building, theyre responsible for.

When an AP is also the principal accountable person (PAP), there are additional documents they must keep.

APs and the PAP must provide this information to other individuals and organisations.

A high-rise residential building has at least:

• 7 storeys or is at least 18 metres high

• 2 residential units

The building must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before people live there.These buildings are known as higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022.

How to keep information

APs must keep information:

• in an electronic format thats safely transferrable without corruption
• accurate and secure
• clear to readers of the data
• accessible in response to a request to access it
• updated with a record of the person who makes a change and the date

APs must keep the information up to date and keep copies of the documents.

Relevant complaints information

Theoperating a complaints system guide sets out what informationAPsmust keep about complaints and for how long.

Information APs must provide to other APs

If theres more than one AP for ahigh-rise residential building, each AP must provide their golden thread information to all the other APs. An AP does not have to provide information theyve been notified about and can access, with another AP.

Change of AP or PAP

When an AP or PAP stops being responsible for a building or any part of it, they must give the golden thread information they were responsible for to the new AP or PAP.

APs do not have to transfer information that is commercially sensitive, unless exceptions apply.

If APs or the PAP do not transfer the information, they can be prosecuted leading to a fine or a prison sentence of up to 2 years, or both.

Residents or owners of residential units: information APs must provide

APs must provide information to people living in residential units about preventing and reducing building safety risks. APs must take all reasonable steps to provide this information to owners of residential units.

Building safety risks involve structural failure of the building or the spread of fire, the information APsmust provide include:

• a summary of the most recent fire risk assessment for each part of the building the AP is responsible for
• a summary of the safety case report
• how residents and owners of residential units can prevent and reduce the severity of incidents that happen in their residential unit
• how to report a building safety risk relating to their building, such as using the complaints system
• the location of any fire escape routes, fire doors and other aids such as fire and smoke alarms, emergency lighting, fire alarm activation devices
• a list of the fire and smoke control equipment for that building
• where the fire and smoke control equipment is located
• instructions for use of the fire and smoke control equipment by residents, where it is intended for use by residents
• evacuation information for the building

Information about individuals and organisations responsible for the safety of the building

The PAP must provide information to residents and owners of residential units about:

• the PAP for the building and any individual the PAP nominates to act on their behalf to communicate with residents
• any other APs for the building
• BSR
• the responsible persons (RPs) for the building under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order)

The information the PAP must provide to residents about these individuals and organisations includes:

• their role and duties in relation to the building
• how their responsibilities differ from each other
• their name, telephone number, email address and postal address

Information and documents relating to the rights of residents and owners of residential units

An AP must provide residents and owners of residential units:

• the latest resident engagement strategy
• information about the complaints system
• a list of the information and documents they must provide
• details of the information and documents a resident or an owner of a residential unit can request, including how they can make a request and why any request is declined

Relevant landlords: information APs must provide

Someone is a relevant landlord when both of the following apply:

• they are the owner of a residential unit in a high-rise residential building
• an AP for that building gives a contravention notice to any person residing in that residential unit

The AP should provide the relevant landlord with a copy of any contravention notice they issue to a person who resides in, but does not own, a residential unit.

Clients: information APs must provide

A client is an individual or an organisation that has building and design work carried out on their behalf.

This section applies to all clients who are not an AP for the building, and has notified in writing to the AP:

• that they are a client
• a brief description of the project including details of the parts of thehigh-rise residential building to which it relates
• their name, address, and email address if available

An AP for a high-rise residential building must provide the client with information relating to where the projects taking place, in the parts of the building theyre responsible for.

The AP must provide a list identi

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