Brocade
TL;DR: The RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code 4th edition is filed as a finance document, and it is also a building safety document. Section 9 runs across pages 72 to 81 under the heading Building Safety Act 2022, and Appendix D at pages 120 to 124 lists 14 things that have to be provided to residents of a higher-risk building, with a named duty holder against each one. If you run an RTM or RMC block, section 9.3 is the paragraph to read first.
Check if your building qualifies as higher-risk →
The code has been in force since 7 April 2026. It is approved by the Secretary of State under section 87(7) of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, which is what makes it admissible when a service charge is disputed. That approval, and the words "service charge" in the title, are why it gets read for the money. The service charge half is covered in the companion explainer on what the 4th edition changed, and nothing below revisits it.
What Section 9 of the RICS Code Actually Covers
Section 9 of the RICS code is titled Building Safety Act 2022 and has thirteen subsections, from 9.1 to 9.13. It sits on pages 72 to 81 of the 134-page document.
The subsections split into two halves. Sections 9.2 to 9.5 deal with the occupied higher-risk building regime: the definition of a higher-risk building, who the accountable persons are, the duties on residents and owners, and the lease terms that section 112 of the Building Safety Act 2022 will imply once commenced. Sections 9.6 to 9.13 deal with remediation and the leaseholder protections, which govern what can be recovered through a service charge for historical safety defects.
Section 9.1 is explicit about how much weight the section can carry.
This section provides a very brief overview of the provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022 relating to the management of occupied residential buildings. […] Obligations under the Act are highly complex, and you are advised to seek legal advice as appropriate. Source: RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, 4th edition, §9.1, p.72.
Read that as a boundary marker. The code does not create building safety duties and does not claim to. What it does is bind anyone following it to work to the Act's definitions and set out what good practice looks like when discharging them. A section 87(7)-approved code is evidence about standards of management; the Act is the source of the obligation.
Does This Affect Your Building?
Section 9.2 restates the occupation-phase definition, and it is the same test the Building Safety Act applies.
During the occupation part of the new regime (post construction), a higher-risk building is defined as a building in England that: '(a) is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys, and (b) contains at least 2 residential units' that is not an excluded building (as defined in The Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023). Source: RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, 4th edition, §9.2, p.72.
Both limbs have to be satisfied: the height or storey test, and at least two residential units. SI 2023/275 sets the exclusions, taking hospitals, care homes, secure residential institutions, hotels, military barracks and certain other building types out of scope. Section 9.2 also notes that a higher-risk building is occupied once residents of more than one residential unit live in it.
If your block is under 18 metres and under 7 storeys, section 9 still matters in one respect. The leaseholder protections in sections 9.6 to 9.12 attach to a relevant building at 11 metres or 5 storeys, a lower threshold than the higher-risk one. Those provisions are about service charge recoverability rather than management duties, and the remediation and Commonhold Bill explainer covers that ground.
Section 9.3 Says an RTM or RMC Manager Is Likely to Be an Accountable Person
This is the paragraph that earns the reading. Section 9.3 walks through the statutory definition of accountable person, then draws a conclusion about resident-managed blocks.
A 'manager' under a tripartite lease, which may be a residents' management company, is therefore likely to be an AP, as is a right to manage company. With a two-party lease, the AP will typically be the direct landlord or superior landlord. Source: RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, 4th edition, §9.3, p.73.
Why the code reaches that conclusion is in the paragraph above it. The Act defines common parts for its own purposes to include the structure and exterior of the building, except where those are demised. Section 9.3 observes that this definition "is likely to differ from defined common parts in a particular lease". An RTM company or an RMC manager holding the repairing obligation for the structure and exterior is therefore holding a repairing obligation over the Act's common parts, whether or not the lease calls them common parts.
Three things about that sentence need saying precisely, because a volunteer director acting on a loose reading of it will get the wrong answer.
It says an AP, not the principal AP. Those are two different statutory roles with different duty sets. Accountable Person status turns on the test in section 72 of the Building Safety Act 2022: holding a legal estate in possession in any part of the common parts, or being under a relevant repairing obligation in relation to any part of them. Principal Accountable Person is a further test under section 73, and section 9.3 states it in its own words: where there are several APs, the principal AP will typically be the one holding the relevant repairing obligation for the structure and exterior. A building can have an RTM company as an AP and the freeholder as the principal AP. The difference between the two roles determines which duties you personally carry.
It says likely, and it means it. Right to Manage transfers management functions under section 96 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. It does not transfer the freehold. Whether the RTM company ends up as an AP, as the principal AP, or as neither depends on which repairing obligations actually moved under the specific lease and title structure for that building. Section 9.3's own instruction is to identify APs building by building, and it notes there is no limit on how many a building can have.
The code tells you to go and check. Section 9.1 asked you to take legal advice. Section 9.3 asks you to identify all APs and the principal AP. Neither sentence is decorative.
If you are an RTM or RMC director and nobody has worked through the section 72 test against your lease and title, that is the task section 9.3 is pointing at. Registration with the Building Safety Regulator was required for all occupied higher-risk buildings by October 2023, and section 9.2 restates that deadline as past.
Read the accountable person responsibilities guide →
Appendix D: What the AP and Principal AP Have to Provide to Residents
Appendix D is titled "Additional information leaseholders can expect to receive during the ownership of a flat if they live in a higher-risk building". It runs from page 120 to page 124 and has four columns: Item, From whom, When, Comments.
There are 14 items. The From whom column names the accountable person or the principal accountable person for every single one of them. It never names the managing agent.
That is the part worth pausing on. In practice an agent usually assembles and issues this material, because that is what the management agreement instructs. The duty still sits with the AP or the principal AP. If the pack does not go out, the agent has a contractual problem and the AP has a statutory one.
Every row in the When column carries two triggers. Each one says the AP or principal AP must provide the information as soon as reasonably practicable after it has been created or updated, and again as soon as reasonably practicable after they become aware that the resident has moved in. So a new resident triggers the whole set, and any update to any single document triggers that document again.
The nine items the accountable person has to provide
The first item names the duty holder in full: the accountable person for the part of the building in which the leaseholder lives. Items two to nine name the AP.
| # | Item | From whom |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A summary of the most recent fire risk assessment for the part of the building the resident lives in (and other parts which the accountable person is responsible for) | Accountable person (AP) for the part of the building in which the leaseholder lives |
| 2 | A summary of the safety case report | AP |
| 3 | Information on how residents and owners of residential units can prevent and reduce the severity of incidents that happen in their residential unit | AP |
| 4 | Information on how to report a building safety risk relating to their building, such as by using the complaints system | AP |
| 5 | The location of any fire escape routes, fire doors and other aids such as fire and smoke alarms, emergency lighting and fire alarm activation devices | AP |
| 6 | A list of the fire and smoke control equipment for that building | AP |
| 7 | The location of the fire and smoke control equipment | AP |
| 8 | Instructions for use of the fire and smoke control equipment by residents, where it is intended for use by residents | AP |
| 9 | Evacuation information for the building | AP |
The five items the principal accountable person has to provide
| # | Item | From whom |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | A summary explaining the role, duties and contact details of each relevant person in relation to the higher-risk building | Principal AP |
| 11 | Most up-to-date version of the resident engagement strategy | Principal AP |
| 12 | Information about the complaints system | Principal AP |
| 13 | A list of the information and documents that principal APs and APs must provide to residents | Principal AP |
| 14 | Details of the information and documents a resident or an owner of a residential unit can request, including how they can make a request and why any request is declined | Principal AP |
The split follows the Act. The resident engagement strategy at item 11 is a principal AP duty under section 91 of the Building Safety Act 2022, which requires the principal accountable person to prepare a strategy for promoting the participation of relevant persons in building safety decisions. Items 13 and 14 are the meta items: the list of what has to be provided, and the explanation of how to ask for more and why a request might be refused.
Appendix D is not a new obligation invented by RICS. The underlying duty is section 89 of the Building Safety Act 2022, "Provision of information etc to the regulator, residents and other persons", and the detail is prescribed by The Higher-Risk Buildings (Keeping and Provision of Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2024, regulations 7 and 8 and Schedule 2. What Appendix D adds is a single table: every item, with the duty holder named against it, in a document a leaseholder can download for free.
Two practical consequences follow from the table as drawn.
Item 13 is the audit trail. An AP responsible for items 1 to 9 and a principal AP responsible for items 10 to 14 can each believe the other issued the pack. Item 13 entitles the resident to a written list of what should have arrived, so the resident holding it can tell you what is missing.
Item 1 recurs. The AP has to provide a summary of the most recent fire risk assessment, and the created-or-updated trigger fires on every revision. An FRA reissued in March and revised in July produces two disclosure events in the same year. A pack assembled once at handover satisfies neither properly.
What the Code Expects of a Managing Agent Doing AP Work
Section 9.3 addresses the commercial arrangement directly, and its starting assumption is that the paperwork does not yet exist.
The duties of the principal AP and AP are largely new and additional statutory duties relating to the management of higher-risk buildings. It is unlikely that pre-existing management agreements will make provision for assisting with the duties. Source: RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, 4th edition, §9.3, p.74.
From that, section 9.3 asks for four things. Landlords who are APs should agree with their managing agents how much of the relevant service the agent, a third party or the landlord will provide. Agents and third parties should declare the relevant duties to their professional indemnity insurance provider and confirm cover is in place. The agreed level and frequency of services, and the level and structure of fees and expenses, should be documented in a written management agreement signed or otherwise recorded as agreed by both parties. And where an agent is instructed on AP duties, the people managing the building safety risks must have the necessary competencies.
On that last point the code names its reference: the BSI competency standard PAS 8673:2022, together with the HSE summary document Competence information for managing building safety on higher-risk buildings. Section 9.3 also puts a due diligence obligation the other way round, asking the principal AP or AP to check the competence and organisational capability of a service provider before deploying them.
For a director of an RTM or RMC block that is a short list of questions for the next management review: which of these duties has the agent agreed in writing to assist with, at what fee, who inside the firm holds the competence, and has the firm told its PI insurer.
What Section 9 Does Not Do
Section 9 does not move a duty. Every duty it describes sits where the Building Safety Act 2022 puts it, and an AP or a principal AP has to make every disclosure in Appendix D. Engaging a competent managing agent changes who does the work, not who answers for it.
It also does not settle the harder questions. Ten pages on a regime whose secondary legislation is still arriving is a summary, and section 9.1 tells you to track commencement yourself. Section 9.5 is a worked example of that care: it describes the implied lease terms under section 112 of the Act with the opening words "When it has been commenced", rather than asserting they are live.
Separately, the government has consulted on consolidating building regulation into a single construction regulator, with primary legislation anticipated in 2027 and operation unlikely before 2028 or 2029. That is a direction of travel and is not current law. The single construction regulator explainer sets out where the proposal has reached.
Common Questions
Does the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code cover building safety? Yes. Section 9 of the 4th edition is titled Building Safety Act 2022 and runs across pages 72 to 81 in thirteen subsections, and Appendix D at pages 120 to 124 lists what an accountable person or principal accountable person has to provide to residents of a higher-risk building. The code took effect on 7 April 2026.
Does the RICS code say an RTM company is an accountable person? Section 9.3 says a manager under a tripartite lease, which may be a residents' management company, is likely to be an accountable person, as is a right to manage company. It says an accountable person, not the principal accountable person, and the code advises taking legal advice. Accountable Person status turns on the statutory test in section 72 of the Building Safety Act 2022.
What is in Appendix D of the RICS code 4th edition? A table of 14 items, with a From whom and a When column. The accountable person for the part of the building the resident lives in has to provide nine of them, and the principal accountable person has to provide the other five.
Does the RICS code create building safety duties? No. The duties come from the Building Safety Act 2022 and its regulations. Section 9.1 of the code describes itself as a very brief overview and advises you to seek legal advice. What the code adds is a professional standard on how those duties should be discharged.
Who has to give residents the resident engagement strategy? The principal accountable person. Appendix D lists the most up-to-date version of the resident engagement strategy in the principal AP group, consistent with section 91 of the Building Safety Act 2022, which places the duty to prepare the strategy on the principal accountable person.
Does a managing agent's existing management agreement cover accountable person duties? Section 9.3 of the RICS code says it is unlikely that pre-existing management agreements will make provision for assisting with the duties. It asks landlords who are APs to agree with their agents what the agent will provide, and asks agents to declare the relevant duties to their professional indemnity insurer.
Further Reading
- Accountable Person vs Principal Accountable Person. Which role you hold, and why the answer changes the duty list.
- Resident Engagement Strategy for Higher-Risk Buildings. Appendix D item 11 in full, including Residents' Panels and complaints systems.
- What the RICS Service Charge Code 4th Edition Changes. The finance half of the same document.
- The accountable person responsibilities guide. The duty list, with the section references.
- Service Charge Residential Management Code, 4th edition (RICS, free PDF). Section 9 starts on page 72; Appendix D on page 120.
- Building Safety Act 2022, section 89 (legislation.gov.uk). The statutory source of the Appendix D disclosures.
This article is for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Accountable Person status is fact-specific to your building's lease and title structure. For building-specific guidance, consult a qualified property professional.