Duties of the accountable person (Part 2)

In the second of our series on the duties of the accountable person, this blog considers the duty to apply for a building assessment certificate.

It seems that after a higher- risk building (see Lauren Michaelides’ blog as to what this covers) has been registered (see Alison Garrett’s blog on registration) the building safety regulator will periodically assess an accountable person’s performance through the building certificate assessment  process. 

The Health and Safety Executive says that it expects the process for applying for such a certificate to begin in April 2024.

Applying for a certificate will not be  straightforward.  The application will usually have to include a) the most recent safety case report; b) information about the  mandatory occurrence reporting system; c) information demonstrating compliance by each accountable person with their duties; and d) a copy of any residents’ engagement strategy. We will discuss what each of these involve in subsequent blogs.  

Once the application has been made, the regulator can inspect the building, before deciding whether to grant a certificate.

Assuming a certificate is given it must be displayed in a conspicuous position in the higher-risk building.