GovWire

Purpose

A safety case report sets out the building safety risks of a high-rise residential building and how they are being managed.

A high-rise residential building has at least:

• 7 storeys or is at least 18 metres high
• 2 residential units?

Building safety risks are the risk of:

• the spread of fire or smoke in the building
• structural failure of the building

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

When you need a safety case report

As the principal accountable person (PAP), you should prepare the safety case report as soon as possible when:

• the building is already occupied or becomes occupied
• you become the PAP?

You must send BSR a copy of your safety case report:

• when BSR tells you to apply for a building assessment certificate
• at any time when BSR asks you for it

To help identify the latest version of your report, include a date, or version number, or both.

Basic building information

In your safety case report include the buildings:

• name, if it has one
• full postal address
• registration number, this begins with HRB and is quoted when BSR contacts you
• build date
• height
• number of storeys above ground level
• floorplans for each type of storey layout
• location, using a map or photo, or both

You should also describe the:

• number and type of residential units, like flats or maisonettes
• common parts, for example community room, bin store, underground parking
• resident profile, for example if any residents need help to evacuate or have additional needs, this should be the same as in your resident engagement strategy
• other building uses which are not residential
• surrounding area
• services and utilities provided to the building, including isolation points
• if the building is supplied with gas, include whether gas is supplied to individual flats and, if so, piping routes

Changes of use

If the building has changed use since its original construction, include this in your safety case report. For each change of use describe:

• what the change of use is
• when the change of use happened
• how the change is relevant to building safety risks
• the loading design limits of the building and how to prevent overloading

Multi-building developments

If the building is one of a number of structures, include a description of the wider development. This should include any shared facilities such as plant rooms and parking.

Missing information

If you have not found all the information about the building you need, you should explain in your report what you did to try and find it.

People responsible for the building

You should include in your report the name and phone number or email address of:

• the PAP
• the building owner, if this is not the PAP
• any other accountable persons (APs) for the building
• any responsible persons under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order)
• any managing agents for the building?

Include details about how the APs share relevant information with each other and with you.

If you or another AP is a resident management company and has appointed a building safety director, include details of the building safety director.

Construction methods and materials

Your report should contain the main structural elements of the building, such as:

• materials of construction, be clear about where different materials are used in different parts of the building
• construction methods used, for example, large panel system
• the primary load bearing methods, for example, pre-cast planks on a steel frame
• stability, for example, concrete shear walls
• secondary systems relevant to building safety risks, for example, cladding support systems
• materials used in other elements, for example, facade, wall attachment, roofing, basement or underground levels
• foundations and local ground conditions such as flood risk and underground tunnels??

Structural condition of the building

Your report should contain any history of structural problems with the building, describe:

• the structural problems, and how the problems were identified
• the actions taken to investigate them
• any remedial measures taken

Set out how you make sure that the building stays structurally sound. For a building:

• more than 3 years old, explain what arrangements are in place
• less than 3 years old, explain what you plan to do to manage the structure in the future

Structural surveys and inspections

If any surveys or inspections have been carried out to assess the current structural condition of the building, include:

• the type and scope of the structural surveys or inspections
• the methods used, such as visual or invasive
• who carried them out
• why the approach was taken
• the findings

If the survey or inspection was done:

• in-house, explain how you made sure the people involved were competent to carry out the survey or inspection
• by a third party, explain how you selected them and checked their competence to work on?high-rise residential buildings

Include a summary of the findings and any recommended actions. Include details about actions that:

• have been completed, and when they were completed
• have not yet been completed, including timescales for completion and any temporary measures put in place to mitigate risks
• have not been acted upon and explain why

Include details about how you keep up to date with structural developments, such as signing up for safety alerts.

Information about the structural condition of the building should be included in the building safety risk assessments.

Building work, refurbishment and remediation

Include a summary of any building work, refurbishment or remediation since original construction that could have affected building safety risks. State the year the work was completed.

Large panel system (LPS) buildings

For LPS buildings, state whether remediation has been carried out since the Ronan Point collapse in 1968. Include a summary of the remediation work, and if there are:

• records of the work, state if there were any sample checks verifying the work
• no records of the work, set out how the buildings structural condition has been determined

If the building has not been remediated, set out the measures taken to prevent structural failure because of LPS weaknesses.

Building work in progress or planned

If building work is in progress, or is planned to take place, your report should include:

• a description of the work
• when the work is expected to be completed
• the steps taken to manage building safety risks until the work is complete

Fire safety measures

In your report, state how you know what the buildings fire safety standards are, for example:

• you know the standards the building was built to
• youve inferred the standards based on factors such as build dat
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