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.
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:
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 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:
The main goal of the new Safety Case Regime is to ensure that:
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.
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:
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, can help you prepare for the introduction of the new Safety Case Regime.