The Building Safety Manager role

In short: There is no statutory "Building Safety Manager" role. It was proposed in the original Building Safety Bill but removed in April 2022, before the Bill became the Building Safety Act. So a building does not need to appoint a named Building Safety Manager - but the accountable person still has to manage the building's safety risks and put competent arrangements in place.

What happened to the role

The Bill originally required each higher-risk building to have a designated Building Safety Manager, funded through a separate "building safety charge". Both were scrapped before Royal Assent in April 2022, largely over concerns about the cost falling on leaseholders. The compulsory role and the separate charge did not make it into the final Act.

What replaced it

The underlying duties did not go away - they sit with the accountable person and, where there is more than one, the principal accountable person. Rather than a prescribed job title, the Act gives the accountable person flexibility to decide the staffing, skills and competence appropriate to their building's risks. In practice that means ensuring the people managing the building are competent and that the right arrangements exist to:

• register the building and keep the golden thread;
• assess the risks and prepare the safety case report;
• run resident engagement and mandatory occurrence reporting.

Why it still matters

Because many people continue to look for a "building safety manager", it's worth being clear: the responsibility is the accountable person's, and it can't be discharged simply by giving someone that title. What matters is competent management and evidence - not a label.

How CTS helps

CTS provides the independent, competent building-safety capability many accountable persons need - assessing where you stand, building and maintaining the safety case and golden thread on the CTS BuildSafe platform, and giving directors and owners the assurance that their duties are being met.

General information, not legal advice. Reviewed by the CTS building safety team.