GovWire

This guidance is for the principal accountable person of a high-rise residential building. It is also relevant to accountable persons. Use this guidance to understand what a resident engagement strategy is and what your legal duties are.

Purpose of a resident engagement strategy

Your strategy must describe how youll include residents over the age of 16 and anyone who owns a residential unit in building safety decisions.

A building safety decision is any decision made by an accountable person about the management of the building, the management of building safety risks or any other decision connected to the duties of an accountable person.

Youll need a separate complaints procedure that residents and others can use to raise safety concerns. You can mention your complaints procedure in the strategy, but your strategy should not deal with how you will handle complaints about the buildings safety.

Legal duties

As the principal accountable person, you must:

• prepare a resident engagement strategy

• act in accordance with the strategy
• review and revise the strategy and keep a record of the reviews
• provide the latest version to each accountable person
• when necessary, consult residents, owners of residential units, and accountable persons about the strategy and take their opinions into account

Accountable persons, for the parts of the building that they are responsible for, must:

• provide the latest version of the strategy to residents and owners of residential units
• tell residents about building safety work
• tell them about who will carry out the work

When to prepare a strategy

From 1 October 2023 you should prepare a strategy as soon as possible when:

• the building is, or becomes occupied
• you become the principal accountable person

Building assessment certificate

You must submit a copy of the resident engagement strategy as part of your application for a building assessment certificate.

Your strategy must cover

The information youll provide residents with

Describe the information youll provide about building safety decisions to:

• residents
• owners of residential units

Information may vary depending on the type of decision and what aspect youre asking about. You can give examples or list typical information youll provide. Include how youll provide the information, including when any work will start.

What youll ask residents about

Describe what decisions youll ask for opinions on. Sometimes, youll only need to ask residents and owners of residential units about certain aspects of a decision that could impact them. For example, if work is needed to repair a faulty fire door, asking them about the work may not be necessary. However, you could ask residents who may be disrupted by the work when would be the best time to do the repair, and how else disruption could be kept to a minimum.

How youll collect and use opinions

Describe how youll ask residents and owners of residential units about building safety decisions. Methods you could use include:

• letters or surveys by post
• a website, emails, social media, or apps
• meetings or visits

The strategy should show that you have considered different communication needs. You can ask if anyone needs communications in a different language or in alternative formats such as large text, easy read, braille, or audio.

You should describe:

• the process youll use to collect, review, and act on opinions
• how youll give feedback on opinions and any changes you make because of them
• how much time residents and owners have to submit their opinions and explain the timescale
• how youll collect and store information in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

How youll measure and review participation

Describe how youll assess and review the methods you use to encourage involvement in building safety decisions. You should do this regularly and record the results of your review.

To measure and review participation, you can:

• record how many responses you get when you ask about a building safety decision
• use surveys and focus groups
• set up meetings and visits

After you have prepared your strategy

Distribute

You must provide a copy of the strategy to all accountable persons.

Accountable persons must distribute the strategy to all residents over the age of 16 and owners of units in the parts of the building that they are responsible for. Provide copies of the strategy in a way that considers the needs of the residents. For example, some may prefer a paper copy and others may prefer email.

Accountable persons must take all reasonable steps to know who lives in their part of the building and understand their needs. This can include accessibility needs and communication needs, such as language spoken. Accountable persons can use a range of methods to collect this information, such as sending out a survey by post or by email or making visits to residential units.

If, after collecting resident information, an accountable person is not aware of one or more residents in their part of the building, the duty to provide a copy of the strategy does not apply.

Consult

You must consult on your strategy following:

• the first time you issue it
• any change to it

You must consult all:

• residents over the age of 16 and anyone who owns a residential unit

• accountable persons for the building

You are not legally required to consult with resident organisations. However, doing so could help reach more residents.

Do not rely on resident organisations as the only way of reaching residents because they may not represent everyone in the building.

Each consultation period must last at least 3 weeks but can be longer. You must set out in your strategy how long your consultations will be.

If the building is new, and residents will move in gradually, it may be best to consult on the strategy in stages. If this is the case, the staged approach to consultation must be set out in your strategy.

Action after consultation

You must consider any opinions received during the consultation and, if necessary, update your strategy. You do not have to reconsult if you make major changes to your strategy as a result of a consultation.

Review

You must review your strategy:

• at least every 2 years
• after every consultation of the strategy
• after a mandatory occurrence report
• after the completion of significant material alterations to the building

Disputes

You must review and consider any opinions you receive from residents and owners of residential units about your strategy. You are not required to change the strategy if you do not think it is appropriate.

Residents and owners of residential units can make a complaint about the strategy to you. If they are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint, they can escalate the complaint to the Building Safety Regulator.