Health Safety Executive
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person manage the fire and structural safety risks of a high-rise residential building.
This guidance will help you understand these roles and their legal duties as set out in the Building Safety Act 2022.?
Accountable person
An accountable person is an organisation or individual who owns or has a legal obligation to repair any common parts of the building.
Common parts areused by residents, such as:
- the structure and exterior of the building
- corridors
- lobbies
- staircases
An accountable person can be a:
- freeholder or estate owner
- landlord
- management company
- resident management company
- right to manage company
- commonhold association
Principal accountable person
Each building must have one clearly identifiable accountable person, known as the principal accountable person.
The principal accountable person is usually an organisation, like a commonhold association, local authority or social housing provider.
In some circumstances, an individual can be the principal accountable person. For example, the individual is:
- the owner of the building
- named on the leasehold as responsible for the maintenance of common parts
Check who the principal accountable person is
If there is just one accountable person for a building, then they are the principal accountable person.
When there are multiple accountable persons, then whoever owns or has a legal obligation to repair the structure and exterior of the building is the principal accountable person.
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person can be accountable for the fire and structural safety risks of more than one building.
Who is accountable
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person cannot delegate their legal obligations to others.
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person can employ an organisation or individual, like a managing agent, to carry out duties on their behalf. However, the accountability for making sure those duties are carried out and the liability for a buildings safety remains with the accountable persons and principal accountable person.
Single point of contact
If the principal accountable person is an organisation, then someone from the organisation can be the single point of contact for the Building Safety Regulator.
The single point of contact can also be a third party separate to the organisation, such as a management company. This individual should have authority or duties relating to the safety of the building, but this does not make them or the third party the principal accountable person. It is the organisation that is the principal accountable person.
The principal accountable person must give written consent to the third party. If this consent stops, the principal accountable person must update the single point of contact with the BSR.
Complex leaseholds
When a building is operated through a complex leasehold structure, the accountable person is any organisation or individual who is one of the following:
- owner of the building
- named on the lease as responsible for the repair or maintenance of any of the common parts
This is known as being under a relevant repairing obligation.
Management companies and agents
Accountability remains with whoever owns the common parts, or has the legal obligation to repair or maintain them under a lease. A management company operating under a contract which requires it to carry out maintenance is not an accountable person. A management company that operates under a lease that requires it to repair or maintain the common parts will be the accountable person for those parts
Landlords
A landlord that rents or leases property and is legally responsible for maintaining the common parts of their building is an accountable person, for example:
- local authority
- social housing
- private sector
Uncertainty or disputes about who is accountable
If there is uncertainty about who is an accountable person or principal accountable person an interested party can apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a decision.
An interested party can be:
- an organisation or individual who owns, or claims to own, any part of the common parts
- a person or organisation who has, or claims to have, a repairing obligation for any part of the common parts
- the Building Safety Regulator
How accountable persons work with Responsible Persons (Fire Safety)
A Responsible Person is a role under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. In some buildings an accountable person or the principal accountable person will also be the Responsible Person. Where this is not the case, building safety information must be shared across these roles and any information shared must meet data protection requirements
Legal duties
Accountable persons are responsible for assessing and managing the risks posed to people in and about the building from structural failure or the spread of fire in the parts of the building they are responsible for.
To do this, accountable persons must:
- put measures in place to prevent building safety risks happening and reduce the severity of any incident that does happen
- report certain fire and structural safety issues or incidents
- engage with residents about the buildings safety and carry out duties relating to the resident engagement strategy
- keep, update and provide information about the building for the buildings safety case
- transfer building safety information to any incoming accountable person
- notify the Building Safety Regulator if theres a change to an accountable person
Check the parts of the building you are responsible for
When there is only one accountable person, they are responsible for managing the structural and fire safety risks in:
- the common parts
- residential units
- commonhold units
- balconies, including those attached to individual residential units
- any other part of the building that is not covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety Order)
Multiple accountable persons
When there are multiple accountable persons, each accountable person is responsible for managing the structural and fire safety risks in:
- the common parts they own, or must repair and maintain under a lease
- balconies, including those attached to the outside of the building that they own, or must repair and maintain
- any residential unit that can be let to a tenant, excluding lets on a long lease
If there are multiple accountable persons for a building, they must work together and share safety information about the building.
Long leases
When a residential unit is let on a long lease, which is usually 21 years or more, the accountable person must:
- prevent risk in the unit that could impact common parts and other units
- protect the unit from risk in the parts of the building they are responsible for
For example, the accountable person must make sure that a fire cannot spread from a leasehold unit to the to the rest of the building. If a fire starts in a common part, the accountable person must make sure it will not spread into the unit.
If the landlord is not the accountable person, theyre not accountable for the safety risks beyond the front doors. An accountable person for the common parts will need to manage these risks.
Register the building
The principal accountable person must register the building with the Building Safety Regulator. As part of the registration process they must:
- submit structure and fire safety information about the building
- notify the Building Safety Regulator of any changes to the information submitted at registration