Provisions for Regulated Buildings

Duties

Part 1 places a duty on the ‘building safety authority’ to keep a register for Category 1 and 2 buildings. A Principal Accountable Person is required to register a building for which they are responsible; it is an offence to allow these buildings to be occupied without first being registered.

When making an application, the Principal Accountable Person will be required to provide a declaration about the accuracy of the information and documents. The form and content of applications and declarations will be set out in further regulation.

This approach to registration and provision of information is largely the same as in the BSA.

Part 1, Chapter 4 includes further key terms relating to the duties, including:

The meaning of ‘fire safety risk’ and ‘structural safety risk’ is broadly the same as the meaning of ‘building safety risk’ under the BSA. However, the Welsh wording is more specific in stating ‘outbreak’ of fire and that it can relate to fire ‘in, to or from’ the building and that it can be ‘accidental or deliberate’. Although, in practical terms, we consider it unlikely that the BSA would be interpreted so narrowly so as to not include a similar meaning.

Where a ‘regulated building’ is occupied, the principal accountable person must ensure that fire safety risks are assessed in the parts of the building for which any accountable person is responsible (i.e., undertake a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment). This assessment must be undertaken by a ‘competent person’ who has sufficient expertise and experience to assess fire safety risks.

A key difference here is that the principal accountable person for the whole building must do this assessment in Wales, compared to the accountable person for the relevant part of the building under the UK regime. Also, this duty will apply to buildings regardless of height. As noted above, the dutyholder positions apply to all ‘regulated buildings’, which includes Category 1 – 3. Therefore, there is a wider, more inclusive scope under the Bill compared to the Act.

It is noted that there is separate duties on Responsible Persons to assess fire risks in all non-domestic buildings (regardless of height) pursuant to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (“the Order”), which also applies in Wales. But the Welsh approach is adding to these duties under the Bill.

Under the BSA, it states that an accountable person must assess the building safety risks; it does not prescribe what the assessment should look like or if expert assistance is required. In available guidance, it notes that it isn’t necessary for a team undertaking an assessment to include consultants or specialists and that parties ‘may be able to assess the risks yourselves’. Whereas the Bill requires someone with sufficient expertise to undertake the assessment as a ‘competent person’. The Bill recognises the criticism surrounding the lack of a requirement for any particular qualification, and that the Grenfell Inquiry recommended assessors be competent; therefore, the Bill is seeking to address that concern.

Specific qualifications, memberships or additional requirements can, and likely will, be specified in further future regulation. Failure to assess using a competent person will be an offence both by the principal accountable person and the person making (or even offering to make) the assessment.

Timelines for making assessments are also more prescriptive under the Bill. Assessments must be made no later than 6 months after occupation or the date which the section of the Bill comes into force – compared to ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ under the BSA.

Further assessments will need to be undertaken as soon as possible after:

These review requirements under the Bill are also more onerous than under the Act, which only requires reviews at regular intervals of if there is reason to suspect that the assessment is no longer valid.

While assessment of risks is a duty of the principal accountable person, the mitigation of those risks is still left to the accountable person, much like under the BSA. Accountable persons are under a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent fire safety risks materialising and to reduce the severity of any incident. However, as is the running theme with the Bill, the duties go over and above the UK counterpart – for example, ‘all reasonable steps’ will include ensuring that people in or about the building whose safety is at risk from fire in that part of the building can escape quickly and safety. A similar duty applicable in England is now codified in the Fire Safety (Residential Evacuation Plans) (England) Regulations 2025 but will only apply to residents with compromised ability to evacuate and live in either a building over 18 metres or 7 storeys or is over 11 metres with a simultaneous evacuation strategy.

Assessments for structural safety risks are also prescribed by the Bill but relate only to those buildings in Category 1 or 2.

Applicable to all Category buildings

Regardless of the category of building, accountable persons will be under various other duties. One area where the Bill and the BSA do not align is in relation to the Golden Thread. Under the BSA, a Golden Thread will only be required on a higher-risk building (e.g., a Category 1 building). However, under the Bill, all regulated buildings (Category 1 -3) will require relevant information and documents to be stored.

Accountable persons will need to ensure that the information is kept up to date, and that it will be shared with prescribed parties when required. This could include, the building safety authority, the fire safety authority, other accountable persons, residents or owners.

Regulations will follow setting out what information is to be kept, the format in which it needs to be stored and when it must be shared.

All categories of buildings under the Bill will likely be required to operate a relevant complaints system. It is specifically prescribed for Category 1 buildings such that complaints regarding building safety risks or performance of the accountable person can be made by residents. Regulations can be made to require similar requirements in relation to Category 2 and 3 buildings, but it is not a specific requirement under the Bill. This goes one step further than the BSA, which only requires a relevant complaints system to be established in relation to higher-risk (i.e., Category 1) buildings, without the option for extension to lower buildings.

Implied Lease Terms

Within Chapter 9 the Bill amends the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 in relation to Regulated Buildings in Wales to introduce implied terms and liability for costs in relation to all regulated buildings.

Under these implied terms, landlords covenant with the tenant to comply with their relevant building safety duties where they are an accountable or principal accountable person and to cooperate with all other persons in complying with building safety duties.

There is also an implied term by the tenant that they will allow access to their premises to certain persons and to comply with their duties under the Bill.

There are also implied terms in relation to recoverable costs under leases. Leases of 7 years or more where service charge is payable have effect as if the service charge provisions include the taking of building safety measures – including professional fees, fees to the building safety authority and management fees.

Similarly, there are limitations to the types of charges that can be recovered. Excluded costs include costs incurred as a result of penalties or enforcement action and associated legal costs, costs met by other persons under management orders and costs incurred by reason of negligence, breach of contract or other unlawful act.

These implied duties and costs provisions are broadly the same as those under the BSA.