Understanding the role accountable persons and principal accountable persons
What are the roles of accountable persons (AP) and principal accountable person (PAP). What are the duties and obligations of AP’s and PAP’s when managing fire and structural safety of high-rise residential buildings.
Introduction
The Building Safety Act competency requirements
Accountable person (AP)
Multiple Aps
Long leases
Principal accountable person (PAP)
Critical duties of a PAP
PAP’s duty Manage the building’s structure and safety
Individual and Organisational requirements
Conclusion
Summary
Introduction
The building Safety Act 2022 was introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy and subsequent report by Dame Judith Hackitt’s looking at the Building Regulations and Fire Safety.
It is the most fundamental and important reform of regulation across the construction industry and residential building sector since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974.
The Building Safety Act (BSA) has transformed the law relating to the design and construction of all buildings and the operation of higher risk residential buildings.
It will impact on the work of everyone in the construction sector and in time, may well evolve as a piece of legislation to encompass more than the residential and mixed-use residential buildings and higher risk buildings.
How duty holders will implement the new regulation and evidence successful implementation is still evolving and will be the subject of a separate future blogpost.
Accountable Person/s and the Principal Accountable Person
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person manage the fire and structural safety risks of a high-rise residential building.
A high-rise residential building has at least:
7 storeys or is at least 18 metres high.
2 residential units
Accountable person (AP)
An AP is an organisation or individual who owns or has a legal obligation to repair any common parts of the building.
Common parts are used by residents include areas such as:
The structure and exterior of the building
Corridors
Lobbies
Staircases
An AP can be a freeholder or estate owner, a landlord, a management company, a resident management company, a right to manage company or a commonhold association.
There may be more than one AP and, in this case, the AP who is responsible for maintain the exterior and the structure of the building will be recognised as the Principal Accountable Person (PAP)
Multiple Ap’s
When there are multiple AP’s, each AP is responsible for managing the structural and fire safety risks in:
The common parts they own or must repair and maintain under a lease.
Balconies, including those attached to the outside of the building that they own or must repair and maintain.
any residential unit that can be let to a tenant, excluding lets on a long lease.
If there are multiple APs for a building, they must work together and share safety information about the building.
Long leases
When a residential unit is let on a long lease, which is usually 21 years or more, the AP must:
Prevent risk in the unit that could impact common parts and other units.
Protect the unit from risk in the parts of the building they are responsible for.
For example, the AP must make sure that a fire cannot spread from a leasehold unit to the to the rest of the building. If a fire starts in a common part, the AP must make sure it will not spread into the unit.
If the landlord is not the AP, they’re not accountable for the safety risks beyond the front doors. An AP for the common parts will need to manage these risks.
Principal accountable person (PAP)
A PAP is usually an organisation such as a local authority or social housing provider but in some circumstances, it can be an individual such as the owner of the building or the person named on a freehold who is responsible for the maintenance of common parts.
If there is just one AP for a building, then they are the PAP and a PAP can be accountable for the fire and structural safety of more than one building.
If the PAP is an organisation, then someone from the organisation can be the single point of contact for BSR.
The single point of contact can also be a third party separate to the organisation, such as a management company. This individual should have authority or duties relating to the safety of the building, but this does not make them or the third party the PAP.
It is the organisation that is the PAP, not the third party.
The PAP must give written consent to the third party. If this consent stops, the PAP must update the single point of contact with BSR.
Note – The role of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will be the topic of an additional blog in this series.
Critical duties of a PAP
The appointed PAP has a number of duties which include:
Registering the building with the Building Safety Regulator.
Applying for a Building Assessment Certificate, as directed by the Regulator, and displaying it in the building.
Preparing a Safety Case Report using a risk assessment, updating it as required to ensure it is complete, accurate, and sufficient.
Maintaining and managing the important information necessary for safely managing the building, also known as the "golden thread"
Developing a resident engagement strategy and complaints procedure
Reporting certain occurrences, such as fires, to the Building Safety Regulator in the form of mandatory occurrence reports
PAP’s duty Manage the building’s structure and safety.
The PAP must also make sure that the structural and fire safety risks are managed properly for the whole building.
The PAP must check that all APs for the building have:
Identified and assessed the fire and structural risks in their parts of the building.
Taken steps to prevent incidents from happening.
Put measures in place to lessen the severity of any incident.
And as is the case with all elements of the Building Safety Act, competency and the four key pillars of behaviour underpin the role of the AP and PAP.
Individual and Organisational requirements
What his means in practice.
For individuals:
You need to have the right skills, knowledge, experience, and behaviours for the job.
Individuals must follow the rules and standards (relevant requirements).
Individuals must refuse work that doesn’t meet these standards.
Cooperation with others in the building process is mandatory at all stages.
Workers must not take on tasks beyond their abilities and seek assistance when required.
For organisations:
You must show that your organisation has the capability to carry out the work according to the stipulations of the regulation.
You must ensure you have proper policies, procedures and resources to confirm workers comply with regulations and that those in training receive appropriate supervision whilst developing their competency.
Individuals under the control of the organisation who are in training to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours are appropriately supervised.
All organisations should carefully consider how they will implement and evidence behavioural competency which for organisations, will be a new consideration, having traditionally only considered skills, knowledge, experience and training.
Conclusion
The Building Safety Act is a significant and critical step in enhancing building safety in the UK and in particular, higher risk buildings, residential buildings and mixed use residential buildings and the role of AP’s and PAP’s has a critical role to play in ensuring that the Act is successfully implemented.
The Building Safety Act builds in the commitment to competency that was outlined in the Building Regulation Act 2010 which mainly looked at construction industry contractors and the work undertaken on sites.
Now with wider scope, covers clients, principal designers, designers, principal contractors, contractors and suppliers and those who will manage the building.
The legislation now sets forth stringent requirements for all parties involved in the lifecycle of the building.
The Building Safety Act leaves no doubt: Competence is an ongoing pledge to uphold safety and regulatory requirements.
Competence is not only key – it’s the law
Summary
The requirements of the new Building Safety Act are extensive, but it need not be daunting.
In the forthcoming blogs, we will break down the Building Safety Act into manageable chunks of information and look at each part in its own merit, before collectively looking at the sum of the parts that make up the act as a whole.
Yorkshire Health and Safety can assist you in the successful delivery of all your projects from concept to completion.
At Yorkshire Health and Safety, we build strong relationships with clients based on communication, collaboration, commitment, trust and aligning with your key safety performance goals.
With over 30 years’ experience delivering successful projects for clients and working with clients’ principal contractors, we know the challenges that come with delivering successful projects, be it commercial, industrial, construction manufacturing, housebuilding, refurbishment, shopfitting and office interiors.
If you require further assistance with any of the topics raised in this post or assistance with current or future projects, please get in touch.
Yorkshire Health and Safety
Comments