Accountable Person Duties Under the Building Safety Act: What You Actually Need to Do

TL;DR: If you own or hold a legal interest in a higher-risk building in England, you are probably an Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act 2022. That means specific legal duties -- assessing risks, maintaining records, reporting incidents, and cooperating with the Building Safety Regulator. Non-compliance that risks death or serious injury is a criminal offence. Here is what the role involves and what you need to do.

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#Who Is an Accountable Person?

The Building Safety Act 2022 created a clear chain of responsibility for every higher-risk building in England. At the centre of that chain is the Accountable Person -- the person or organisation legally answerable for building safety.

Under section 72 of the Act, you are an Accountable Person if you:

1. Hold a legal estate in possession in any part of the common parts of the building, or
2. Have a relevant repairing obligation for any part of those common parts

In most buildings, the freeholder is the Accountable Person. But a building can have more than one AP. For example, a freeholder who owns the structure and exterior is one AP, while a management company with a repairing obligation for internal corridors and lobbies is another.

Where there is only one AP, that person is automatically the Principal Accountable Person (PAP) under section 73. Where there are multiple APs, the one who holds the legal estate in the structure and exterior becomes the PAP, with additional coordination duties.

For a detailed breakdown of the PAP role and how to determine whether you hold it, see our Principal Accountable Person responsibilities guide. For a side-by-side comparison of exactly which duties fall on APs versus the PAP, see Accountable Person vs Principal Accountable Person.

#A quick scenario to make this concrete

Imagine you manage a 12-storey residential tower with 60 flats. The freehold is held by a property company. The internal common areas -- lobbies, corridors, stairwells -- are maintained by a Resident Management Company (RMC) under the terms of the lease.

In this building, there are two Accountable Persons:

• The property company (freeholder) is the AP for the structure and exterior, and therefore the Principal Accountable Person
• The RMC is an AP because it has a repairing obligation for the internal common parts

Both have legal duties under the Act. Both must cooperate. And neither can simply assume the other is handling everything.

#Your Core Duties as an Accountable Person

The Building Safety Act sets out specific obligations for every AP. These are legal requirements, not optional best practices. Here is what each one means in practice.

#Assess building safety risks (s.83)

Under section 83, you must assess building safety risks in the parts of the building you are responsible for. A building safety risk is defined as a risk to people from the spread of fire or structural failure.

This is not a one-off assessment. You must review it regularly and update it whenever circumstances change -- after building works, safety incidents, or new information about construction materials.

What this looks like in practice: Commission a competent fire safety assessor. Document every finding. Track every action to completion with evidence. A building with 40 fire risk assessment actions where 35 are complete with photographic evidence tells a fundamentally different compliance story than a building with an assessment report filed in a cabinet and no record of what happened next.

#Take all reasonable steps to prevent and reduce harm (s.84)

Section 84 requires you to take all reasonable steps to prevent major incidents and to reduce their severity if they occur. This standard -- "all reasonable steps" -- is the measure against which the BSR will judge your actions.

It does not require perfection. It requires proportionate, documented, ongoing effort. If a fire risk assessment identifies damaged fire stopping in service risers, "all reasonable steps" means commissioning a specialist contractor, setting a completion timeline, and implementing interim measures while the work is done. It does not mean waiting until the budget cycle allows for it.

#Maintain the Golden Thread (s.88)

Under section 88, you must contribute to the building's Golden Thread -- the complete, digital, up-to-date record of all building safety information. For the parts of the building you are responsible for, you must keep accurate records in electronic format.

This includes structural records, fire safety system documentation, maintenance logs, contractor certifications, and risk assessment findings. The records must be accessible to relevant persons -- including the PAP, other APs, and the BSR when requested.

For practical guidance on setting up and maintaining your Golden Thread, read our Golden Thread guide.

#Prepare and contribute to the Safety Case (s.85)

The Safety Case Report is a formal document demonstrating how building safety risks are identified, assessed, and managed. Under section 85, the PAP has the primary duty to prepare it, but every AP must cooperate by providing information about the risks and measures in their part of the building.

If you are the sole AP (and therefore the PAP), the Safety Case Report is entirely your responsibility. For an overview of what a building safety case involves and why it matters, see our guide to building safety cases. For the step-by-step preparation process, see the Safety Case Report guide.

Read the PAP responsibilities guide

#Report safety occurrences (s.87)

Under section 87, you must report certain safety occurrences to the BSR. These include structural failures, fire spread beyond the room of origin, failure of fire safety systems, and any event creating a significant risk to life.

The reporting process has two stages:

• Immediate notification: As soon as you become aware of a reportable occurrence
• Written report: Within 10 working days, providing full details

Failure to report is itself a breach. And with the BSR taking a harder line on underreporting in 2026, having a clear internal process for identifying and submitting reportable events is essential.

For a detailed guide on what to report and how, see Mandatory Occurrence Reporting: What Building Managers Must Report and When.

#Cooperate with the PAP and other APs (s.72, s.74)

If your building has multiple Accountable Persons, cooperation is a legal duty -- not a courtesy. You must share information, coordinate on risk management, and ensure there are no gaps in safety coverage between different parts of the building.

In practice, this means regular communication with the PAP, shared access to relevant Golden Thread records, and clear agreements about who is responsible for what. The BSR will not accept "I thought the other AP was handling that" as a defence.

#Engage with residents (s.91)

Under section 91, you must contribute to the building's residents' engagement strategy. Residents have the right to be informed about building safety, consulted on safety decisions, and provided with a mechanism for raising concerns.

This is not about sending an annual newsletter. Effective engagement means residents know who is responsible for building safety, understand the measures in place, and have a clear path for reporting concerns. For practical guidance on building your engagement strategy -- including Residents' Panels, communication channels, and the section 93 complaints system -- see our resident engagement strategy guide.

#What Happens If You Do Not Comply

The enforcement framework is designed to be proportionate but serious. Understanding it helps you prioritise your efforts.

#Criminal liability (s.101)

Section 101 creates a criminal offence where an AP contravenes a relevant requirement and that contravention gives rise to a risk of death or serious injury. The penalties are significant:

• On indictment: Up to 2 years' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both
• Summary conviction: Up to 12 months' imprisonment, a fine, or both

Where the AP is a body corporate (a company or RMC), officers of the company can also be prosecuted if the offence was committed with their consent, connivance, or neglect (section 103).

#The due diligence defence (s.101(4))

There is an important protection: it is a defence to show that you took all reasonable steps to comply. This is why documentation matters so much. Your Golden Thread records, risk assessments, maintenance logs, and contractor certifications are not just compliance obligations -- they are your evidence that you were acting responsibly.

A building that can show a structured approach to risk management, regular assessments, tracked actions, and evidenced maintenance is in a fundamentally different legal position from one that cannot.

#BSR enforcement tools

The BSR has several enforcement powers short of criminal prosecution:

• Compliance notices (s.97): Requiring specific actions within a deadline
• Contravention notices (s.99): Formal notice that a requirement has been breached
• Special measures: In serious cases, the BSR can appoint a manager to take over safety management

The BSR has stated its approach is risk-based. It is not looking to prosecute building managers who are making genuine efforts. Its enforcement focus is on those who are aware of their obligations and are failing to act.

See how Brocade helps accountable persons track compliance

#A Practical Compliance Starting Point

If you have just discovered you are an Accountable Person -- or you have known for a while but have not acted -- here is where to start. You do not need to do everything at once, but you do need to start.

1. Confirm your AP status. Work out whether you hold a legal estate in common parts or have a repairing obligation. If your building has multiple APs, identify who else shares the duty and establish communication.

2. Check your building is registered. All higher-risk buildings should have been registered with the BSR by 1 October 2023. If yours is not registered, treat this as urgent. The PAP is responsible for registration, but every AP should verify it has happened.

3. Review your fire risk assessment. When was the last one done? Have the actions been tracked and completed? If you cannot answer these questions, commission a new assessment and set up a tracking system.

4. Start building your Golden Thread. Begin with what you have -- construction records, maintenance logs, contractor certifications, risk assessments. Get them into a digital system. Organise by category. The Golden Thread does not need to be perfect on day one, but it does need to exist and be actively maintained.

5. Establish occurrence reporting. Create a clear internal process: who identifies reportable events, who submits the report, and how quickly. Train staff and contractors to recognise what needs reporting.

6. Document everything. Every decision, every assessment, every action taken. The due diligence defence depends on evidence. If it is not recorded, it did not happen.

For a comprehensive overview of the Building Safety Act and all its requirements, see our Building Safety Act complete guide.

#Common Questions

#What is an Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act?

An Accountable Person (AP) is a person or organisation with legal responsibility for the safety of a higher-risk building in England. Under section 72 of the Building Safety Act 2022, you are an AP if you hold a legal estate in possession in any part of the building's common parts, or if you have a repairing obligation for those common parts.

#What are the main duties of an Accountable Person?

Accountable Persons must assess building safety risks under section 83, take all reasonable steps to prevent major incidents under section 84, maintain the Golden Thread of building information under section 88, contribute to the Safety Case Report under section 85, report safety occurrences to the Building Safety Regulator, and cooperate with the Principal Accountable Person.

#What happens if an Accountable Person fails to comply?

Non-compliance that gives rise to a risk of death or serious injury is a criminal offence under section 101 of the Building Safety Act. The Building Safety Regulator can issue compliance notices and contravention notices. However, a due diligence defence is available if you can demonstrate you took all reasonable steps to comply.

#Is the Accountable Person the same as the Principal Accountable Person?

Not always. Every higher-risk building has at least one Accountable Person, and the AP who holds the legal estate in the building's structure and exterior is designated the Principal Accountable Person (PAP) under section 73. If there is only one AP, they are automatically the PAP. If there are multiple APs, the one who owns the structure and exterior is the PAP.

#Can a managing agent be an Accountable Person?

No. A managing agent acts on behalf of the building owner but does not hold a legal estate in the building or have a statutory repairing obligation. The freeholder or other entity holding the legal estate remains the Accountable Person. The agent carries out management tasks, but the legal responsibility stays with the AP.

#Further Reading

• Principal Accountable Person Responsibilities Guide -- detailed breakdown of the PAP role and obligations
• What Is a Building Safety Case? -- understanding the safety case your building needs
• The Complete Golden Thread Guide -- how to set up and maintain your building information record
• Building Safety Act Complete Guide -- comprehensive overview of the full BSA regime
• BSA Compliance Checklist -- a step-by-step checklist of all your obligations

This article is for informational purposes. For building-specific advice, consult a qualified fire safety professional.

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