New Digital Toolkit Aims to Strengthen High-Rise Safety Standards

A free toolkit designed to support principal accountable persons overseeing more than 13,000 high-rise residential buildings across England has been launched by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

This resource is designed to help duty holders fulfil their statutory duties under the Building Safety Act, protecting structural and fire safety for hundreds of thousands of residents.

Digital Toolkit

The new building safety toolkit is aimed at more than 4,000 principal accountable persons (PAPs).

Under the Building Safety Act, PAPs have a legal responsibility to ensure a building’s fire and structural safety is properly managed.

The BSR says the toolkit has been developed to help PAPs, especially those in resident managed buildings, navigate their complex duties and uphold the highest building safety standards.

It includes on-demand webinars, Q&As, practical guides, tips, and alerts.

Recognising the diversity of high-rise management in England, the toolkit also provides free training for more than 2,000 resident directors. These are both residents and, in many cases, also the PAP themselves in high-rise Resident Management Companies, Right to Manage schemes and commonhold associations.

Resident Support

Beyond building safety compliance for duty holders, the toolkit places a strong emphasis on residents themselves. It includes guidance on how PAPs should engage with residents to gather views on building safety matters affecting their homes.

Resources to raise awareness of the regulator’s national “Your Home, Your Safety” resident campaign are also available, as well as building control approval advice for residents looking to make home improvements within their own high-rise home.

For buildings undergoing specific construction work, resources and information about BSR’s remediation plan is also being made available.

Building Safety Remains Top Priority

Charlie Pugsley, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Building Safety Regulator, said: “This managing building safety toolkit represents a significant step forward in our efforts to support principal accountable persons, especially those in thousands of resident managed buildings across England.

“By centralising resources, training opportunities and links to guidance we are supporting duty holders to more effectively manage the complex, but essential requirements of the Building Safety Act.

“Whether it is preparing a Safety Case Report, planning for remediation work on an existing building or engaging with residents, this resource helps to ensure that building safety remains the top priority for both BSR and thousands of our high-rise communities.”

The launch of this digital resource follows BSR’s recent announcement that it plans to introduce a “more proportionate and targeted” approach for future higher-risk building assessments, including greater support to resident-led principal accountable persons.

Regular updates are planned over the coming months to add new resources to the toolkit as the building safety regime continues to evolve.

>> Read more about building regulations in the news