The 'Accountable Person' is another role introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022
In a nutshell:
• The ‘Accountable Person’ is responsible for safety risks when a building is occupied.
• The AP is whoever owns or is responsible for the building e.g a landlord.
• APs must maintain and repair common areas.
• If more than one person is responsible for a building, a Principal Accountable Person will be appointed.
• Duties for a PAP include registering the building, applying for a building certificate and providing evidence that the high rise building will remain compliant.
To ensure a greater level of accountability and safety in the construction industry, the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced various roles and responsibilities that apply throughout the design, construction and occupation of buildings, with enhanced duties for higher-risk buildings.
Accountable Person
One of these roles is an ‘Accountable Person’ who is liable for the building safety risks following occupation. The AP is whoever owns or is responsible for the building for example a freehold owner or a landlord. As part of their role, they have an obligation to repair or maintain the common parts of the building: areas shared by the residents of the building, such as the exterior and structure, corridors or lobbies.
Principle Accountable Person
For instances where more than one person is responsible for the building, a Principle Accountable Person will be appointed. This individual will be whoever owns the building or holds legal responsibility for the structure and exterior. The PAP is primarily responsible for ensuring compliance of the higher risk building and liaison with the BSR.
What is the role of the Building Safety Regulator and how does this differ from existing regulators?
Examples of specific duties include registering the building with the Building Safety Regulator and applying for a building assessment certificate. This must be done upon completion of the works in Gateway 3 to provide evidence that the works carried out comply with all applicable building regulations.
To ensure that the building is compliant for the remainder of its lifecycle, the PAPs are required to keep and update information relating to the building for the ‘Golden Thread’. As part of this, Principal Accountable Persons must establish an effective framework through which AP’s can create reports for the BSR.
Alongside this, PAPs must also prepare a safety case report that summarises all the building safety risks that have been identified and the relevant steps APs are taking to mitigate them. This is the main way in which a BSR will check that the AP(s) are fulfilling their duties.