For freeholders, RMCs and managing agents
Building Safety Act 2022: Duties for Building Owners
Sviatoslav JerdetchiiCEO & Founder of Craftex. Updated , 5 min read
The short answer
The Building Safety Act 2022 created a stricter regime for higher-risk buildings: blocks in England at least 18 m or 7 storeys high with at least two homes. Their owners must register them, name accountable persons and keep a safety case.
- The principal accountable person registers the building with the Building Safety Regulator and prepares the safety case report.
- A resident engagement strategy sets out how residents are told and asked about building safety decisions.
- Qualifying leaseholders are protected from paying to fix unsafe cladding; other costs are capped.
- Building work to an existing higher-risk building needs the Regulator's approval before it starts.
The Building Safety Act 2022 is the law that followed the Grenfell Tower fire. For owners of existing blocks, its biggest change is a stricter regime for higher-risk buildings. Those are at least 18 m or 7 storeys, with at least two homes.
Those buildings must be registered, have a named principal accountable person and keep a safety case. The Act also protects many leaseholders from the cost of fixing defects, and lets a tribunal make developers pay.
This guide is for freeholders, RMC directors and managing agents. We carry out fire safety remediation in occupied London blocks, so it ends with how the works themselves run. We are not lawyers: take legal advice on your building. Facing works now? Get a free remediation scope.
What the Act changed for existing buildings
For the owner of a block that is already built and lived in, five changes in the Act do most of the work.
| Change | What it means for an owner | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Higher-risk building regime | Registration, accountable persons, safety case, resident engagement | Blocks at least 18 m or 7 storeys with 2+ homes |
| Building Safety Regulator | Approves building work to higher-risk buildings before it starts | Higher-risk buildings |
| Leaseholder protections | Qualifying leaseholders protected from cladding costs; other costs capped | Relevant buildings: 11 m or 5 storeys, 2+ dwellings |
| Remediation and contribution orders | A tribunal can order defects fixed, or order developers and associated companies to pay | Relevant buildings with relevant defects |
| Longer limitation periods | 15 years for new Defective Premises Act claims, 30 years for claims that accrued earlier | All dwellings |
The limitation change matters for owners of blocks built in the 1990s and 2000s. Claims under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 that arose before the change now have 30 years.
Higher-risk buildings and registration
Section 65 of the Act defines a higher-risk building. It is a building in England at least 18 metres high or with 7 storeys, containing at least 2 residential units. Once occupied, these are high-rise residential buildings.
They must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator before people live there. The principal accountable person makes the application and keeps the registration up to date.
The application gives storeys, height, number of homes, completion date and address. The principal accountable person then has 28 days to send more detailed information about the structure and fire safety. Registered buildings appear on a public register that anyone can search.
Accountable person and principal accountable person
An accountable person is whoever owns, or has a legal obligation to repair, any common parts: the structure, exterior, corridors, lobbies and stairs. It can be a freeholder, landlord, management company, RMC, RTM company or commonhold association.
Each building has one principal accountable person. If there is only one accountable person, they are it. If there are several, it is the one responsible for the structure and exterior.
Three points catch owners out:
- The duty cannot be delegated. You can employ a managing agent to do the work, but the accountability stays with you.
- A maintenance contract is not enough. A management company that only maintains under contract is not an accountable person. One that must repair under a lease is.
- A single point of contact is not the PAP. You can name someone to deal with the Regulator, but the organisation remains accountable.
Building safety case and resident engagement
The safety case is the principal accountable person's assessment of the building safety risks: fire or smoke spreading, and structural failure. The safety case report sets out those risks and how they are managed.
GOV.UK says to prepare it as soon as possible once the building is occupied, or once you become the principal accountable person. You send it to the Regulator when asked, including when the building is called for a building assessment certificate.
| Section | Examples of what it holds |
|---|---|
| Building information | Address, HRB registration number, height, storeys, floor plans, residents who need help to evacuate |
| People responsible | The principal accountable person, other accountable persons, the Fire Safety Order responsible persons, managing agents |
| Construction | Structural materials and methods, and where each is used |
| Risks and measures | How fire, smoke and structural risks are prevented and managed |
The resident engagement strategy sits alongside it. It sets out how residents over 16 are told about, and asked about, building safety decisions. Some works last more than a day and block part of the building or disrupt residents. Then the principal accountable person must ask residents about timing and how to limit disruption.
Records matter throughout. Our guide to gateway 2 and the golden thread covers the information a higher-risk building must keep.
Remediation, leaseholder protections and who pays
The Act decides who pays for historical safety defects. Qualifying leaseholders do not pay to fix or remove unsafe cladding. Other building safety costs are normally capped at £10,000, or £15,000 in Greater London, where a developer cannot be held responsible.
Section 124 lets the First-tier Tribunal make a remediation contribution order. It requires a developer or associated company to pay towards fixing relevant defects, where that is just and equitable.
Funding comes before the works. For cladding, the building's own developer, the developer remediation contract or the Cladding Safety Scheme usually pays. Our guide to the EWS1 form explains how a B2 rating leads to that plan, and FRAEW and PAS 9980 covers the appraisal behind it.
A Bill introduced in October 2026 would add remediation deadlines. The government's aim is that every building over 11 metres with unsafe cladding is fixed by the end of 2029. Failing that, it should have a clear completion date. It is not law yet.
Craftex has completed a range of both small and large-scale projects on our commercial property with exceptional precision and quality. Dmitriy consistently delivers courteous, prompt service and has shown great flexibility in accommodating last-minute changes to plans and timelines. I highly recommend Craftex for their professionalism and outstanding workmanship.
Works in an occupied higher-risk building
Building work to an existing higher-risk building needs the Building Safety Regulator's approval before it starts. GOV.UK lists work involving fire safety measures, and work on common parts including remediation, as Category A.
So the programme starts with the approval, not the scaffold. A complete application and a contractor who has planned the access, the phasing and the resident updates are what keep the start date.
| Stage | What we plan |
|---|---|
| Before approval | Scope from the FRAEW or survey, programme, access and phasing |
| Resident engagement | Dates and disruption agreed through the resident engagement strategy |
| On site | Escape routes kept open, flat visits booked, every opening made safe each shift |
| Handover | Records and certificates for the building's information and safety case |
At Pan Peninsula in Canary Wharf we rebuilt a 290 sq m penthouse in 10 weeks with residents at home. At Kensington Olympia we rebuilt 400 sq m in 12 weeks while the building stayed occupied. Neither was a remediation project, but the access and resident planning are the same.
Accountable for a higher-risk block? Send us the reports for a free remediation scope and a programme that starts with the approval. Already have a quote? Send it to us. We'll beat it.
- Is the building at least 18 m or 7 storeys with 2 or more homes?
- Registration with the Building Safety Regulator in place, and the structure and fire safety information sent
- Every accountable person identified, and the principal accountable person agreed
- Safety case report prepared, dated and kept up to date
- Resident engagement strategy prepared, shared and followed
- Current fire risk assessment and, where needed, a FRAEW to PAS 9980
- Funding route for any defects: developer, scheme or own funds
- Regulator approval planned before any building work starts
