The building safety case: a practical guide for Accountable Persons

If you own or manage an occupied higher-risk building in England, the Building Safety Act 2022 asks you to prove that you understand the risks of fire spread and structural failure in your building and that you are managing them. That proof is the safety case. This guide explains what it involves in plain terms.

Does this apply to my building?

The occupation-phase regime applies to buildings in England that are at least 18 metres tall or have at least seven storeys, and contain at least two residential units. If your building meets that test it must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator. Our guide on higher-risk buildings explains how to measure height and count storeys.

Who is responsible?

Every higher-risk building has at least one Accountable Person: whoever owns or has a legal duty to repair the common parts. Where there is more than one, one of them is the Principal Accountable Person (PAP), usually the one responsible for the structure and exterior. The PAP leads on the safety case report, but every Accountable Person must assess and manage the risks in the parts they control.

The Accountable Person role cannot be passed to a contractor or consultant. Specialists can do the work, but the legal duty stays with the owner.

Safety case and safety case report

• The safety case is everything you know and do about the building safety risks: assessments, surveys, records, maintenance, procedures and decisions.
• The safety case report is the document that summarises it. It explains the building, identifies the major fire and structural hazards, describes the measures in place to prevent and limit them, and shows how you know those measures work.

The Regulator can ask for the report at any time, normally as part of a building assessment certificate application.

What evidence goes in?

A strong report is built on current, specific evidence, not general statements. Typical evidence includes:

• a current fire risk assessment, including flat entrance doors and external walls
• an external wall appraisal, usually to PAS 9980
• compartmentation and fire stopping surveys
• fire door inspection records, including quarterly communal door checks
• fire alarm, emergency lighting and smoke ventilation service certificates
• lift, sprinkler and dry or wet riser maintenance records where fitted
• structural surveys and inspection records
• as-built drawings and the key building information sent to the Regulator
• the resident engagement strategy and records of how it is working
• the mandatory occurrence reporting system.

The golden thread

The golden thread is the accurate, up-to-date digital record of the building that supports the safety case. It should be organised so that the right people can find the right information quickly. In practice, that means a consistent folder structure, version control, and a clear owner for each document type.

Where people get stuck

• Old or generic fire risk assessments that do not reflect the building as it is now.
• Missing maintenance records, often after a change of managing agent.
• No evidence of fire stopping, because work was done but never photographed.
• Claims without proof, such as "all fire doors are compliant" without inspection records.

How to get ready

1. Confirm the building is registered and the key building information is correct.
2. List the evidence you have and the date of each document.
3. Commission the surveys and inspections that fill the gaps.
4. Set up a maintenance and inspection programme that produces evidence automatically.
5. Draft the report, test it against the evidence, and keep it under review.

We support Accountable Persons with every step that needs a site visit or an engineering judgement, and with organising the evidence into a report that holds up.