Don’t miss the deadline for registering high-rise residential buildings

The Building Safety Act 2022 overhauls the existing health and safety regulations for residential buildings and is intended to give residents more rights, powers and protections. One aspect of this new regime is that owners of higher-risk residential buildings must register them with the Building Safety Regulator by 1 October 2023.

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What is a higher-risk residential building?

Higher-risk residential buildings are those which are at least 18m high or have at least seven storeys, and contain two or more dwellings. The following categories of building are excluded from this definition:

hotels;
secure residential institutions; and
military barracks and other living accommodation provided by the MoD.

Care homes and hospitals are included within the definition during their construction phase but fall outside the regime once they become "occupied", which is when people are living in more than one residential unit in the building.

The duty to register

Occupied higher-risk buildings (or those that could be occupied) must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator ("BSR") by 1 October 2023, and it is an offence to allow residents to occupy an unregistered building after this date. When new buildings are completed after 1 October 2023, they must be registered before residents can occupy them.

Registration must be done by the Principal Accountable Person ("PAP") for each building, or someone authorised by them. A PAP can be an individual or an organisation, and if the latter then the contact details of a single point of contact must be provided so that the BSR can get in touch with a named individual who has authority or duties relating to the safety of the building. The PAP can authorise someone else in writing to register the building for them, such as a managing agent or a lawyer.

How does registration work?

The registration service is now open here and the fee to register each building is £251.

        
            What information is required on registration?
        
The number of floors at or above ground level. Floors from ground level to the top floor should be counted, whether they have residential units or not.  Mezzanine floors that are 50% or less than the area of any other floors, floors below ground level, and the roof should not be counted.

Its height in metres (up to 2 decimal places) from ground level to the top floor (disregarding the roof).  The height can be estimated if the building has at least 7 floors and is clearly over 18 metres, but do keep a record of how you estimated the height.

The number of residential units should all be counted, whether someone is living in them or not. A residential unit is a place where someone can live, like a flat, apartment, maisonette or a room in student accommodation.

The year it was originally built.  If the exact year is unknown, select from a range of years. For buildings completed in 2023 or later, provide the name of the building control body that issued the completion certificate or final notice, the certificate or notice number.  For buildings completed between 1985 and 2022, reasonable steps must be taken to give this information.  If the building was completed before 1985, this information is not required.

Its address or addresses.

If the building is made up of more than one high-rise residential structure, key information must be provided in respect of each structure. This includes information about the structure's fire and smoke controls; energy supplies, storage and generation; the type of structure, roof, staircases and external walls; the building’s use; any building work carried out since the original build; any connections between structures or to other buildings.  This information can usually be found in the most recent fire risk assessment and/or a recent external wall system appraisal.  The BSR has produced guidance to assist with this part of the application.

Details about the principal accountable person and any other accountable persons.

The BSR will assess the application and make a decision to either register the high-rise residential building, or reject the application. It is possible to ask the BSR, within 21 days of the decision, to review the outcome. This will involve setting out the reasons for asking for the review, plus any new information that may have been relevant to the original decision but was not available when the decision was made. Any other accountable persons must be notified of the request for a review. The Government has issued guidance on the new regime here.

Conclusion

The Act will have many ramifications for residential buildings, of which this is just one. The information provided during registration will help PAPs to assess the building’s risks as part of a safety case report. It will also be used by the BSR to help it prioritise buildings for the building assessment certificate process from April 2024. Failure to register by the deadline is a criminal offence and could result in a fine or imprisonment. Please contact Edward Colclough if you would like to discuss this new regime.

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