The Building Safety Act 2022 changed how higher-risk residential buildings in England are designed, built and managed once people live in them. For FM and estates leaders who look after these buildings, it created clear legal duties and a dedicated regulator. For organisations hiring those leaders, it changed what good looks like.
This article summarises what government guidance says. It is not legal advice, and organisations should take professional advice on how the Act applies to their own buildings.
What counts as a higher-risk building
Government guidance defines a high-rise residential building, known in the regime as a higher-risk building, as one that is at least 18 metres high or has at least 7 storeys, and has at least 2 residential units. The duties described below apply to these buildings once they are occupied.
Many FM and estates portfolios include such buildings: student accommodation, build-to-rent blocks, social housing and mixed-use schemes with residential floors among them.
Accountable persons and the principal accountable person
The guidance describes an accountable person as an organisation or individual who owns or has a legal obligation to repair any common parts of the building, such as corridors, lobbies, staircases, the structure and the exterior. A building can have more than one accountable person, but each must have one clearly identifiable principal accountable person.
According to the guidance, accountable persons and the principal accountable person must:
- register the building with the Building Safety Regulator
- assess and manage fire and structural safety risks
- keep building safety information up to date, often called the golden thread
- prepare a safety case report
- run a mandatory occurrence reporting system
- prepare a resident engagement strategy
- operate a complaints system
- provide building information to the people entitled to it
The detail sits in the government guidance on accountable persons and the guidance on preparing a resident engagement strategy.
The Building Safety Regulator
The Building Safety Regulator oversees the regime and can take enforcement action, including compliance notices and prosecution, where duties are breached. It was set up within the Health and Safety Executive and, on 27 January 2026, became a standalone arm's-length body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
For new higher-risk buildings, the regime uses a series of gateways. The final one comes before occupation: government guidance on Gateway Three states that residents cannot legally move in without the regulator's approval. That matters for anyone mobilising FM services on a new residential scheme.
What it means for FM and estates leaders
Where FM or estates teams work for, or act on behalf of, an accountable person, much of the day-to-day work that supports these duties lands with them. In practice that means:
- Information discipline: keeping accurate, accessible records of the building, its systems and changes to it.
- Risk management: treating fire and structural safety as live risks with owners, controls and evidence, not annual inspections.
- Occurrence reporting: systems and a culture that capture and escalate safety occurrences properly.
- Resident engagement: clear, honest communication with residents about safety, and a complaints process that works.
- Contractor control: making sure work on the building does not undermine its safety or its records.
What it means for hiring
Organisations with higher-risk buildings increasingly need FM and estates leaders who can evidence this kind of work, not just describe it. When you interview, ask candidates to walk you through:
- how they have maintained building safety information on a residential building
- how they have handled a safety occurrence, from report to resolution
- how they engage residents about safety, including when the news is unwelcome
- how they work with the accountable person, and where their responsibilities stop
The answers show quickly whether someone has run the regime in practice or only read about it. Scarce profiles of this kind are often best found through direct approach rather than advertising.
For the wider approach to briefing and assessing senior estates appointments, read our Insights ebook Recruiting Estates Leaders.
Talk to Maxwell Stephens
Maxwell Stephens has specialised in Facilities Management, estates and workplace recruitment since 2006. If you are planning an FM, estates or workplace appointment, contact us for a confidential conversation, or read our case studies to see how comparable searches were run.
