Brocade
TL;DR: The Principal Accountable Person is identified by one fact: which legal entity holds the legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior of the building, under section 73 of the Building Safety Act 2022. Tenure type tells you where to look. This piece walks four common tenure shapes (landlord-managed, RTM in place, managing agent appointed, mixed tenure with an RMC) and gives a deterministic Inputs / Answer / Evidence pattern for each.
Read the golden thread guide →
What This Post Is For
If your question is "what does the PAP have to do that an ordinary AP does not", read the companion piece, Accountable Person vs Principal Accountable Person. It compares the two roles and lists the duties side by side.
This post answers a different question: which entity, in your specific building, IS the Principal Accountable Person. The answer is keyed on tenure. Four tenure shapes are covered below: landlord-managed (freeholder direct), RTM in place, managing agent appointed, and mixed tenure (RMC-owned freehold or split head leases). For each branch the pattern is the same: read a small set of inputs, identify the entity that holds the legal estate in the structure and exterior, and locate the document that proves it. That entity is the PAP.
The Test, In One Sentence
The Principal Accountable Person is the Accountable Person who holds a legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior of the building.
Two facts compose the test. First, the entity must be an Accountable Person under section 72. That means it holds a legal estate in possession in any of the common parts, or it has a repairing obligation for those common parts. Second, among the Accountable Persons in the building, it is the one that holds the legal estate in the structure and exterior specifically. If the building has only one Accountable Person, that person is automatically the PAP.
The structure and exterior is the load-bearing fabric of the building. Walls, floors, roof, foundations, the building envelope. Internal common areas (lobbies, lifts, corridors) are common parts but are not the structure and exterior. The PAP test is keyed to the structural fabric.
Branch 1: Landlord-Managed Building (Freeholder Direct)
The simplest case. The freeholder owns the building, has not granted a head lease that splits the estate, has not lost management to an RTM, and runs the building directly without a managing agent.
Inputs. Land Registry title shows the freeholder as the registered proprietor. No head lease in the title register. No RTM acquisition notice. No external managing agent under contract.
Answer. The freeholder is the Principal Accountable Person. If the freeholder is also the only Accountable Person in the building, it is automatically the PAP.
Evidence. Pull the Land Registry title via GOV.UK Land Registry search. The proprietorship register names the freeholder; the property register confirms the title covers the structure and exterior. Keep a dated copy in the building file as the PAP-identification record.
Branch 2: RTM Company Has Acquired the Right to Manage
A Right to Manage company is a leaseholder-controlled company formed under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002. Once the RTM has served and effected its claim notice, management functions for the common parts transfer from the freeholder to the RTM company.
Inputs. RTM company exists at Companies House (name typically ending "RTM Company Limited"). Acquisition notice has been served and the acquisition date has passed. The freeholder is still on the Land Registry title; the RTM is not.
Answer. In most RTM scenarios the freeholder remains the Principal Accountable Person. The RTM has acquired management functions under CLRA 2002 s.96, not the legal estate. The freeholder is still the AP under section 72 and the PAP under section 73.
The RTM may also be an Accountable Person where it holds a repairing obligation for some part of the common parts. The narrow exception is where the RTM holds all repairing obligations for the structure and exterior: BSA 2022 s.72(2)(b) excludes the freeholder from AP status for those parts, the RTM becomes the sole AP, and the RTM is therefore the PAP under s.73(1)(a). Whether you are in the default case or the narrow case depends on the specific lease terms and the management functions transferred. The lease decides — work the designation through against the structure-and-exterior repairing schedule.
Where the RTM is a separate AP under the default case, the section 74 duty to coordinate between APs sits with the PAP (the freeholder).
Evidence. Land Registry title (freeholder on the proprietorship register). RTM company filings at Companies House. The RTM acquisition notice and dated acquisition. Lease terms confirming which repairing obligations have transferred. Keep all four in the building file alongside a written cooperation arrangement between the freeholder (PAP in the default case) and the RTM (separate AP) recording the section 74 division of responsibilities.
Read the golden thread guide →
Branch 3: Managing Agent Appointed
A managing agent is an external firm engaged by the freeholder or RMC to run the building day-to-day. Appointing an agent is an operational decision. It does not change the legal estate. It does not transfer the AP or PAP designation.
Inputs. Land Registry title shows the freeholder (or RMC, in branch 4 cases) as the registered proprietor. Management contract with a named agent firm exists. The agent firm is not on the title.
Answer. The principal (freeholder, or RMC if applicable) remains the Principal Accountable Person. The agent acts on the principal's instruction. The agent is not an Accountable Person under section 72 unless it itself holds a legal estate or a direct repairing obligation under the lease, which is rare; the standard agent arrangement is contractual, not estate-creating.
The agent may carry out PAP functions on the principal's behalf: registration with the BSR, Safety Case Report preparation, residents' engagement strategy administration, occurrence reporting. The PAP designation and legal liability sit with the principal regardless. If the agent fails, BSR enforcement and any criminal liability under section 101 sit on the principal, not the agent.
Evidence. Land Registry title (principal as proprietor). Management contract specifying which functions the agent performs and the reporting cadence. A written record from the principal that the agent has been instructed to perform specific PAP functions, with deliverables. The principal's board minute (if the principal is an organisation) recording the agent's scope.
Branch 4: Mixed Tenure (RMC Owns the Freehold, or Head Leases Split the Estate)
Mixed tenure is the hardest branch. Two patterns fall here.
Pattern 4a: Resident Management Company has acquired the freehold. Some buildings (particularly those built in the 1990s and 2000s under leaseholder-friendly developer arrangements) transfer the freehold to a Resident Management Company once the development is complete. The RMC is named on the Land Registry title as the registered proprietor.
In this pattern, the RMC holds the legal estate in the structure and exterior. The RMC is the Principal Accountable Person. The leaseholder-directors are not personally the PAP; the company is, and the directors discharge the duty through the company. If the RMC has appointed a managing agent, branch 3 applies in addition: the agent acts on the RMC's behalf, the RMC remains the PAP.
Pattern 4b: Head leases or split estates. A head lease is a long lease of part of the building granted by the freeholder. Where the head lease covers the structure and exterior, the head leaseholder may hold a legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior, in which case the head leaseholder is the PAP, not the freeholder. Where the head lease covers only the internal common parts and the freeholder retains the structural shell, the freeholder is still the PAP and the head leaseholder may be a separate AP.
Inputs. Land Registry title showing all titles relating to the building. The lease(s), with the demise plan and the repairing schedule.
Answer. Read the title and the lease. The PAP is the entity that holds the legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior. In an RMC-owned building, that is the RMC. In a head-lease building, it is the head leaseholder if the structural shell was demised to them; otherwise the freeholder.
Evidence. Land Registry title (all titles affecting the building). The lease(s), including the structural-fabric demise. A written PAP-identification note signed by the principal entity confirming why it holds the estate in the structure and exterior. Legal advice is appropriate where the structure is contested or recently transferred.
When the Position Is Disputed
Where there is more than one accountable person, the principal accountable person is the accountable person who is required by virtue of an enactment or a lease to repair, or maintain in repair, anything forming part of the structure or exterior of the higher-risk building.
The Building Safety Regulator's published position is that uncertainty about PAP designation is not a reason to defer the duties. If two entities each have a credible claim, the entity most likely to be the PAP should begin discharging the duties while the legal position is clarified.
Two practical points. The BSR maintains the register of higher-risk buildings under section 78; if you believe the wrong entity is registered, the BSR can investigate. The section 74 cooperation duty applies to multiple Accountable Persons regardless of which is finally designated the PAP, so the written allocation of responsibilities between APs should be in place even while the legal designation is being settled. If the position is contested, take legal advice from a solicitor who works in building safety law. The Land Registry title and the lease are the primary documents; the lease's repairing schedule is often the deciding fact in mixed-tenure buildings.
The Standard Five-Minute Test
For HRBs with a single freeholder and no contested estate splits, the PAP can be identified in five minutes with two documents.
- Pull the Land Registry title. The proprietorship register names the freeholder. If the freeholder is named and there are no head leases of the structure on the title, branch 1 or branch 3 applies depending on whether an agent is engaged. The freeholder is the PAP.
- Check Companies House for an RTM company at the building's address. If an RTM exists and has acquired, the freeholder is still the PAP (branch 2). The RTM has management functions, not the estate.
- Check the title for an RMC. If the freehold has been transferred to a Resident Management Company, the RMC is on the proprietorship register. The RMC is the PAP (branch 4a).
- Check the lease for repairing obligations. Where a leaseholder, RMC, or RTM holds a repairing obligation for part of the common parts, that entity is also an Accountable Person under section 72. The PAP is still whichever entity holds the legal estate in the structure and exterior.
- Document the read. A dated, signed PAP-identification note in the building file naming the PAP entity, the title number, and the basis for the designation. This sits alongside the Safety Case Report, the building registration record, and the golden thread information record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the freeholder always the Principal Accountable Person?
The PAP is whichever entity holds the legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior of the building under section 73 of the Building Safety Act 2022. In landlord-managed HRBs that is the freeholder. Where a Resident Management Company has acquired the freehold, the RMC is the PAP. The legal estate in the structure and exterior is the deciding fact, not the management arrangement.
Does an RTM company become the Principal Accountable Person when it acquires the right to manage?
Not automatically. A Right to Manage company under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 acquires management functions under s.96 CLRA 2002, not the legal estate in the structure and exterior. In most RTM scenarios the freeholder retains the legal estate and remains the Principal Accountable Person under section 73 BSA 2022. In the narrow case where the RTM holds all repairing obligations for the structure and exterior, BSA 2022 s.72(2)(b) excludes the freeholder from Accountable Person status for those parts and the RTM becomes the sole AP and therefore the PAP under s.73(1)(a). Read the lease — see Branch 2 above for the evidence to pull.
Does appointing a managing agent transfer the Principal Accountable Person duty to the agent?
No. A managing agent does not hold a legal estate in the building. The agent acts on the freeholder's or RMC's instruction. The legal entity that holds the estate in the structure and exterior remains the Principal Accountable Person. The agent can carry out PAP functions on the principal's behalf, but the legal liability sits with the principal.
What if my building has multiple Accountable Persons in different parts?
In a building with multiple Accountable Persons, the AP that holds the legal estate in possession in the structure and exterior is the Principal Accountable Person under section 73 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The other Accountable Persons retain their section 72 duties for the parts they hold or have a repairing obligation for. The PAP also has the section 74 duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure cooperation between APs.
What document should I check first to identify the Principal Accountable Person?
The Land Registry title for the building. The title shows who holds the legal estate in the structure and exterior of the higher-risk building. That entity is the Principal Accountable Person under section 73 of the Building Safety Act 2022. If the freehold has been transferred to a Resident Management Company, the RMC is named on the register and is the PAP.
If I am unsure which entity is the PAP, what should I do?
Start with the Land Registry title and the lease. The title identifies the legal estate holder. The lease identifies repairing obligations that may create additional Accountable Persons under section 72. If the position is unclear (head leases, recent transfers, disputed estates), the Building Safety Regulator can investigate. The Regulator's published position is that uncertainty is not a reason to defer the duties; the entity most likely to be the PAP should begin discharging the duties while the legal position is clarified.
Further Reading
- Accountable Person vs Principal Accountable Person: the AP-vs-PAP role comparison, including the duties table.
- Principal Accountable Person Responsibilities Guide: comprehensive PAP guide with scenarios.
- Golden Thread Building Safety Guide: the building information record the PAP must maintain.
- Safety Case Report Guide: the report the PAP must prepare under section 85.
- Building Safety Act 2022, sections 72–76: the primary legislation for AP and PAP designation, registration, and reporting duties.
- Building Safety Act 2022 explanatory notes: the Act's explanatory notes for context on the AP and PAP definitions.
Informational only. For building-specific advice on PAP designation in contested or unusual ownership structures, consult a solicitor experienced in building safety law.