The Principal Accountable Person’s Guide to Building Safety Act Obligations

By

Nicholas Dunbar

Reviewed by 

Zoe Mullan

Last Updated Jul 1, 2026

By

Nicholas Dunbar

Reviewed By

Zoe Mullan

The UK construction and property sectors are undergoing a permanent transition. For decades, managing building data meant navigating disjointed spreadsheets, buried email chains, and fragmented Operations and Maintenance manuals. The Building Safety Act 2022 has now shifted the landscape for occupied residential buildings in England, making comprehensive, accessible data a strict legal necessity.

Adapting to these new regulations doesn't have to be overwhelming. Connecting site-level delivery with executive strategy streamlines compliance, mitigates risk, and keeps your teams focused on what they do best. Start by understanding exactly who carries the statutory responsibility, then deploy the right digital systems to protect your organisation and ensure the safety of your residents.

Understand the Accountable Person & Principal Accountable Person Roles

The BSA sets out clear guidelines on who holds statutory duties for the safety of a Higher-Risk Building (HRB). If a building meets the 18-metre or seven-storey threshold and contains at least two residential units, these safety mandates take immediate effect.

To grasp your obligations under the Act, evaluate your ownership structure. Many residential towers have complex leases, which can result in multiple Accountable Persons (APs). When this occurs, the law requires a unified point of accountability. It designates the entity that holds a legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior of the building – or carries a relevant repairing obligation for those parts – as the Principal Accountable Person (PAP). Most commercial arrangements assign a corporate body or partnership as the PAP to ensure operational continuity.

Crucially, while you can delegate tasks, you cannot delegate legal liability. Freeholders frequently hire managing agents to handle daily maintenance – fixing leaks, coordinating snagging – but outsourcing the work does not outsource the regulatory risk.

Many organisations initially assume that using a premium managing agent shields them from compliance risks. The regulator, however, is exceptionally clear: ultimate accountability rests with the Principal Accountable Person. This reality fundamentally changes how you must audit your portfolio. Non-compliance carries severe penalties, including criminal prosecution and substantial fines, so understanding your organisation's exact role is the first step towards long-term operational security.

Manage the Golden Thread of Information Digitally

Paper documents and siloed hard drives represent an unacceptable risk under the new regulations. To satisfy the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), you must manage the "golden thread" of information digitally, maintaining a secure, continuously updated record of all safety-critical information throughout the building's life cycle.

When emergency structural repairs are required, site teams need immediate access to original design specifications. A centralised, digital system lets you:

• Capture structural variations - log every change directly on site as it happens
• Update the site diary - record all structural inspections and maintenance routines daily
• Generate Safety Case Reports - provide the BSR with evidence-based reports drawn from real-time site data
• Secure handover documentation - ensure the entire safety record is complete prior to occupation

Purpose-built platforms, such as Procore's Common Data Environment (CDE), track your data from design straight through to handover. Operating securely within the localised UK Data Zone, a CDE acts as your definitive source of truth – giving site managers their time back while providing the executive team with total visibility into portfolio compliance.

Distinguish Between the Responsible Person & Accountable Person

Role confusion creates dangerous operational gaps. The industry frequently conflates the AP with the Responsible Person (RP), but they are distinct legal entities governing different aspects of building safety.

• The RP operates under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. They manage fire risk assessments, check fire extinguishers, and ensure escape routes are clear.
• The AP operates under the BSA regulations. They oversee the structural integrity, building safety risks, and the Safety Case.

With both roles clearly defined, your overarching compliance strategy must align these two frameworks. Coordinating these duties meticulously ensures there are no missed inspections or critical blind spots in your safety strategy.

Execute Your Resident Engagement Strategy

Beyond structural data and fire safety, resident engagement is a key part of compliance. The BSR expects residents to have direct, structured access to critical safety information about their building.

Provide residents with a clear communication plan so they know exactly how to report concerns, such as a cracked load-bearing wall or a faulty fire door. When someone raises an issue, your team must log the complaint, inspect the defect, and report the resolution back to the BSR.

Tracking these interactions manually across a large portfolio is difficult to scale. Digital reporting tools let you visualise resident engagement metrics, keeping your reporting proactive, transparent, and formatted correctly for Building Assessment Certificate applications.

Secure Your Compliance Framework Today

The margin for error in managing HRBs has narrowed significantly. Relying on outdated methods makes regulatory compliance unnecessarily difficult. By connecting your site delivery directly to your overarching compliance strategy, you protect your organisation and provide your residents with the safest possible living environment.

Written by

Nicholas Dunbar

Content Manager | Procore

71 articles

Nick Dunbar oversees the creation and management of UK and Ireland educational content at Procore. Previously, he worked as a sustainability writer at the Building Research Establishment and served as a sustainability consultant within the built environment sector. Nick holds degrees in industrial sustainability and environmental sciences and lives in Camden, London.

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Reviewed by

Zoe Mullan

27 articles

Zoe Mullan is an experienced content writer and editor with a background in marketing and communications in the e-learning sector. Zoe holds an MA in English Literature and History from the University of Glasgow and a PGDip in Journalism from the University of Strathclyde and lives in Northern Ireland.

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