Building Safety in Northern Ireland - Higher Risk Buildings and the Accountable Person
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) was the UK Government’s legislative response to the Grenfell Tower fire and represented the biggest change to building safety regulation in decades. However, whilst some provisions of BSA 2022 extend beyond England, the majority do not apply in Northern Ireland.
New Legislation for Northern Ireland?
The Northern Ireland Executive has the power to legislate on building safety. Whilst no draft legislation has been published, the next Assembly election is due before May 2027 and it is anticipated that building safety reforms for Northern Ireland, drawing on BSA 2022, will be prioritised as part of the next Assembly mandate, meaning that those reforms may be in force before the end of the decade.
Whilst projects in Northern Ireland are not currently subject to the BSA 2022 regime, BSA 2022 is the benchmark for building safety reform in the UK. The anticipated reforms in Northern Ireland will draw heavily on the BSA 2022 model, meaning developers, contractors, consultants, and property owners who understand the BSA 2022 regime will be better prepared for legislative change in Northern Ireland.
This is the second in a series of articles in which the Construction Team at Carson McDowell will comment on the key aspects of BSA 2022 and the possible implementation in Northern Ireland of similar provisions, so that readers are aware of the practical and commercial implications of BSA 2022 and can prepare for future local legislative change.
BSA 2022 – Higher-Risk Buildings
Part 4 of BSA 2022 deals with the occupation and ongoing management of higher-risk buildings in England. Those are buildings that:
• are at least 18 metres in height or have at least 7 storeys; and• contain at least 2 residential units.
The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 confirm that care homes, hospitals and hotels do not fall within the definition of ‘higher risk buildings’ for the purposes of Part 4 of BSA 2022.
Accountable Person
Part 4 of BSA 2022 also introduces the concept of the ‘accountable person’. It is the duty of the accountable person to assess, manage, and reduce building safety risks, particularly those relating to fire spread and structural failure.
The duties of an accountable person for an occupied higher-risk building also include:
• registration of the building with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR);• the preparation of a safety case report containing an assessment of the building safety risks and a description of any steps taken by the accountable person to manage and reduce those risks;
• notifications and the provision of information to the BSR;
• the keeping and updating of prescribed information about the building;
• reporting building safety risks to the BSR; and
• engaging with residents on building safety issues.
The accountable person can be an individual or a company. In many cases the accountable person will be the landlord or management company which owns the building's common parts and has responsibility for their repair. Even if a managing agent is appointed to carry out day-to-day management functions on behalf of an accountable person, the legal responsibility and liability remain with the accountable person.
The BSR is responsible for enforcing Part 4 of BSA 2022. That enforcement may see a compliance notice being given to an accountable person, that will set out the steps to be taken by the accountable person (within a specified timescale) to remedy a contravention. If a compliance note is not complied with, the accountable person may be prosecuted.
Carson McDowell View
BSA 2022 introduced the role of the ‘accountable person’, which has legal responsibility for the ongoing management of safety risks in higher-risk buildings. Failure to comply with the regime can result in enforcement by the BSR and criminal sanctions.
It is likely that there will be a public consultation on what should constitute a ‘higher-risk building’ in Northern Ireland, which has fewer buildings over 18m in height than England. For that reason, Northern Ireland may see its own bespoke (possibly wider) definition of a ‘higher-risk building’.
Although the accountable person regime only applies to higher-risk buildings in England, as the Northern Ireland Executive develops its own residential building safety framework, building owners and managers should be aware of the requirements of BSA 2022. Those that ensure that robust risk-management and record-keeping systems are in place now will be better-placed to meet the requirements of any new regime for Northern Ireland.
For more information, please contact John Dugdale or another member of the Construction Team.
*This information is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute, nor should be regarded as, a substitute for taking legal advice that is tailored to your circumstances.
