In short: The Building Safety Act 2022 is the biggest change to building safety law in England in a generation. It was passed in response to the Grenfell Tower fire and the Hackitt review, and it places ongoing, enforceable duties on those responsible for higher-risk buildings - overseen by a new Building Safety Regulator with real powers. This guide is a plain-English overview; each duty has its own detailed guide linked below.
What the Building Safety Act 2022 is
The Act received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022 and has been brought into force in stages. In summary it does four things: it creates the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) with enforcement powers; it defines new accountable roles and places continuing legal duties on them; it introduces a tougher approval process for the design and construction of higher-risk buildings (the "gateway" regime); and it strengthens leaseholder protections around the cost of fixing historical safety defects. The thread running through all of it is a shift from a build-it-and-forget-it culture to continuous, evidenced responsibility for a building's safety throughout its life.
When did the Building Safety Act come into force?
The Act's duties switched on in phases. Registration of existing occupied higher-risk buildings opened in April 2023, and from 1 October 2023 it became a criminal offence to occupy an unregistered higher-risk building - the point at which the main in-occupation duties and the new gateway regime took effect. The BSR now operates as an independent, standalone regulator. For the full sequence of dates, see our guide to the Building Safety Act timeline and deadlines.
Which buildings does it apply to?
Some parts of the Act apply to all buildings, but the demanding in-occupation duties apply to higher-risk buildings: those at least 18 metres tall or with at least 7 storeys, containing at least two residential units, in England. You will also see 11 metres referenced - that lower threshold relates mainly to the leaseholder protections and certain remediation responsibilities, not to the higher-risk occupation duties, which is a common source of confusion. Our guide to higher-risk buildings sets out the thresholds in full.
Who is responsible?
The Act created a new legal role: the Accountable Person. For an occupied higher-risk building this is the organisation or individual who holds a legal estate in the common parts or is responsible for their repair - typically a freeholder, resident management company, right to manage company or registered provider. Where there is more than one, a Principal Accountable Person leads. Crucially, appointing a managing agent does not transfer the duty - it stays with the Accountable Person. The design and construction phase has its own separate dutyholders: the client, principal designer and principal contractor.
The key duties for occupied higher-risk buildings
If you are the Accountable Person for an occupied higher-risk building, you must:
- Register the building with the BSR - occupying an unregistered higher-risk building is a criminal offence;
- Establish and maintain the golden thread of building safety information, held digitally and kept current;
- Provide Key Building Information to the BSR in the categories it prescribes;
- Assess the building's safety risks and prepare a safety case report, provided to the BSR on request, underpinned by a safety management system;
- Operate mandatory occurrence reporting to capture and report specified safety occurrences;
- Put a resident engagement strategy in place and give residents safety information on request;
- Carry out the statutory inspection regime - fire doors, alarms, emergency lighting, lifts, water and more - each at its legal frequency.
Meeting these duties, and being able to evidence them, is where the building assessment certificate the BSR issues comes in.
Design and construction: the gateways
For new higher-risk buildings the Act introduces a gateway regime - three stop-points (at planning, before construction starts, and before occupation) at which safety must be demonstrated to the BSR before the project can proceed. Alongside this, the revised Building Regulations place explicit duties on the client, principal designer and principal contractor. Design-stage requirements such as the second staircase rule also sit here.
Enforcement and penalties
The BSR has significant powers and has been clear it intends to use them: criminal prosecution of organisations and individuals, compliance and stop notices, restrictions on occupation, and unlimited fines for the most serious offences. See our guide to BSR enforcement for what this looks like in practice.
Leaseholder protections and remediation
Separately from the in-occupation regime, the Act strengthened protections for leaseholders against the cost of remediating historical building-safety defects, and reshaped how facade risk is assessed and who pays. See our guides on who pays for cladding remediation, EWS1 vs FRAEW and PAS 9980.
What to do now
Three practical steps if you may be in scope: confirm whether your building is higher-risk; confirm who the Accountable Person is (and remember the duty stays with you even if you use an agent); and assess your current position against the duties above to find the gaps. The most common failing we see is not refusal to comply, but the absence of a single, current, evidenced record.
How CTS and BuildSafe help
CTS is an independent, client-side building safety advisory practice. We help building owners, RMC and RTM directors, managing agents and registered providers understand their duties, close the gaps, and hold a defensible record that the duties are being met. Our platform, CTS BuildSafe, keeps the golden thread, Key Building Information, safety case, inspection regime and occurrence reporting in one place. The best starting point is usually a compliance gap assessment - a clear, independent picture of where each building stands.
Would you rather hand the day-to-day work to a specialist? CTS also offers fully outsourced building safety compliance - the duty met without building an in-house team.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Building Safety Act 2022 in simple terms?
It is the law, passed after the Grenfell Tower fire, that places ongoing safety duties on those responsible for higher-risk residential buildings in England and creates the Building Safety Regulator to enforce them.
When did the Building Safety Act come into force?
It received Royal Assent in April 2022; the main in-occupation duties and the gateway regime took effect from 1 October 2023. See our timeline and deadlines guide.
Who does the Building Safety Act apply to?
The demanding duties apply to higher-risk buildings - 18 metres or 7 storeys with at least two dwellings - and fall on the Accountable Person.
General information, not legal advice. Reviewed by the CTS building safety team.
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