In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, one thing became clear: such a disaster cannot happen again, and steps must be taken to enhance residential safety across the country.

That’s why former Chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive Dame Judith Hackitt led a thorough Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which encouraged the UK government to introduce today’s Building Safety Bill.

The Bill specifically focuses on improving the safety of high-rise residential buildings and the importance of introducing a new and updated safety case regime.

While Safety Case regimes and reports have, so far, only been used in the risk assessment of high hazard industries, they might now become an essential tool to prevent serious incidents in residential buildings.

Expected to become law in 2022, the Building Safety Bill has the potential to reshape the way we look at residential safety.

Here is an introduction of the benefits and implications of the new Safety Case Principles.

The Safety Case for High-rise Residential Buildings: An Overview

Safety Case Regimes are a tool introduced with the aim to prevent or curb the consequences of a serious incident in an in-scope residential building.

In-scope high-rise residential buildings include those that are a minimum of 18 metres high and have at least 7 storeys.

As part of the new Safety Case Regime, these buildings will be required to:

• Develop a safety case
• Maintain and regularly review their safety case
• File a Safety Case report to the Building Safety Regulator
• Appoint a Principal Accountable Person, who will be responsible for completing, filing, updating, and reviewing the Safety Case regime, and will work in collaboration with the building’s safety manager.

It is important to notice that the new Safety Case Regime is not introduced to ensure that existing buildings are upgraded to meet current standards.

While this would be ideal, the renovation, construction, and assessment project implied with bringing older buildings up to date can be extremely costly and unviable.

Instead, what the Safety Case sets out to achieve is better and more proportionate safety measures, which need to be relevant to the building’s unique characteristics.

It is important to distinguish between a Safety Case Regime and a Safety Case Report:

• Safety Case Regime - conducted by the Accountable Person(s), a Safety Case is the process of identifying safety risks and introducing measures towards reducing and controlling those risks. In particular, this regime focuses on the threat of fire and structural failure.
• Safety Case Report - the safety case report is a written document that carries the evidence of due diligence and demonstrates that reasonable steps have been taken to reduce existing risks. These reports are part of the Golden Thread - or the digitally-stored line of information that encapsulates everything needed to create and maintain safer residential buildings.

Safety Case Principles for High-Rise Residential Buildings

Safety cases are not thought to be a replacement for other legal requirements and additional safety measures - but rather are designed to enhance them. Here are some of the principles behind this introduction:

• While similar to risk assessments, safety cases also evaluate potential hazards and need to include the reasons that justify certain choices.
• Safety cases are not just a collection of documents, but rather a line of information created in line with the building’s context and characteristics
• Safety cases should be an ongoing effort rather than just a one-off exercise
• A safety case report should contain ad hoc specific information, relevant to the building in question
• Every claim in the report should be supported by evidence

Managing Risks and Hazards: Goals of the Safety Case

The main goal of the new Safety Case Regime is to ensure that:

• New high-rise buildings are designed to the highest safety standards
• Old and new buildings are managed and operated with respect to ad hoc safety measures

In-scope buildings, including multi-use buildings, are made as safe as possible through reasonable safety steps

In the case of high-risk buildings, appointed accountable persons will be required to demonstrate how the building is kept safe, what measures have been introduced, how these measures limit the consequences of a serious incident, and what ongoing maintenance routine is in place.

Completing a Safety Case

When designing a Safety Case Regime and completing a report, you will be required to highlight all major fire and structural hazards the building poses.

In a succinct way, you will also need to describe and prove what measures are in place to manage said risks. These might include procedures as well as physical safety systems.

Lastly, you will be required to produce evidence of how these systems are maintained, reviewed, and updated over time.

It is important to notice that, unlike other safety documents such as a risk assessment, Safety Case regimes are designed to follow a narrative relevant to building itself.

That is why you will need to add information such as:

• Building description and history
• Previous accidents and potential risks
• Evacuation plans and fire safety measures in place
• Emergency and fire fighting arrangements

Preparing For The Safety Case

While the Building Safety Bill and the Safety Case are not law yet, they are expected to become so soon. In turn, it is essential to prepare for this new introduction by gathering information about the building, how its internal system works, and what professionals in the building can become the accountable person(s).

If you are unsure about where to start with such a thorough analysis, booking a discovery call with our building safety experts at Ark can help you prepare for the introduction of the new Safety Case Regime.