Building Safety Act compliance, explained
The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new building-safety regimes in England, including enhanced requirements for higher-risk buildings during design and construction and for high-rise residential buildings in occupation. This guide sets out the duties in plain English, keeps the two separate legal definitions of a higher-risk building apart, and points you to the records each duty depends on.
This is guidance, not legal advice — Complys does not determine a building's legal status or replace the Building Safety Regulator or a competent professional.
Two regimes, two definitions — don't confuse them
The Act runs two connected regimes, and each defines a higher-risk building differently. Get the phase right first.
In occupation
A building in England that is at least 18 metres tall or has at least 7 storeys, and contains at least 2 residential units. A building used entirely as a hospital, care home, secure residential institution, hotel or military barracks is not an in-occupation higher-risk building.
Legal duty — Building Safety Act 2022, s65 · Measurement — Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023 · BSR guidance, occupation-phase criteria
In design & construction
The same height or storey threshold, but the building qualifies if it contains at least 2 residential units, or is a care home, or is a hospital. Care homes and hospitals are in scope here — unlike the occupation regime.
Descriptions — Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023 · Procedures — Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 · BSR guidance, design-and-construction criteria
Not sure which applies? Use the free higher-risk building checker — it asks the phase first, then the criteria. For the detail, read what is a higher-risk building.
The duties at a glance — in occupation
Register the building
The principal accountable person must register the building with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) before people live there.
Assess & manage risks
Assess and manage the building safety risks — the spread of fire and structural failure — and be able to show how.
Safety case report
The principal accountable person prepares a safety case report and submits it when BSR directs.
Golden thread
Keep the golden thread — a digital, up-to-date, single source of truth for the building's safety information.
Mandatory occurrence reporting
Report mandatory occurrences — initial notice as soon as you can, then the full report within 10 calendar days of identifying it.
Resident engagement
Prepare and update a resident engagement strategy, and operate a complaints system for building-safety issues.
Building assessment certificate
Apply for a building assessment certificate when directed by BSR — see the note below, as this process changed in 2026.
Legal duty — Building Safety Act 2022, Part 4
The duties at a glance — in design & construction
Gateway 1 — planning
Fire safety is considered at the planning application stage.
Gateway 2 — before work starts
Building control approval from BSR must be obtained before construction begins — a hard stop.
Gateway 3 — completion
Apply for the completion certificate. Where the completed building contains at least 2 residential units and will enter the occupation regime, it must also be registered with BSR before residents live there.
Dutyholders
The client, principal designer and principal contractor work to competence duties aligned with the CDM approach.
Procedures — Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 · BSR is the building control authority for higher-risk buildings
A note on building assessment certificates (updated 2026)
On 9 July 2026 the Building Safety Regulator announced a more proportionate, intelligence-led approach: it will call in new certificate applications only when necessary, focus first on organisations managing several higher-risk buildings, and give resident-managed buildings more time and support. The underlying duties do not go away — obtaining a certificate is not the end goal. Because this process is changing, treat timescales as current as of 2026 and check the latest BSR position.
BSR news, 9 July 2026
How Complys helps today
Complys is a compliance platform for the records and evidence that safety duties depend on. Today it helps you keep structured documents and evidence with owners and review dates, track certificate and inspection expiry so nothing lapses, and manage fire, block management and construction compliance across a portfolio. It does not currently provide a dedicated golden-thread, safety-case, mandatory-occurrence-reporting or building-assessment-certificate module. Where the Act requires a record, Complys is a sensible place to keep the evidence in order in the meantime.
Building Safety Act compliance — FAQs
Does the Building Safety Act apply outside England?
No — this regime is England-specific. Wales has its own separate regulations, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have different building-safety law. This guide is about England.
Is my building a higher-risk building?
It depends on the phase and the criteria. In occupation, a building is higher-risk if it is at least 18 metres tall or has at least 7 storeys and contains at least 2 residential units (hospitals and care homes are excluded from that regime). In design and construction, the same height or storey threshold applies but the building qualifies if it contains 2 or more residential units, or is a care home, or is a hospital. Use the higher-risk building checker to work through it.
Does Complys make my building compliant?
No software makes a building compliant — the duties sit with the accountable person, the dutyholders and competent professionals. Complys helps you keep the documents, records and evidence those duties rely on in order, and produce them when asked.