How to engage with high-rise residents

Effective engagement is key

The Building Safety Act (BSA) has been introduced to ensure that residents are safe and feel safe in their homes.

This page and others set out key considerations to help Principal Accountable Persons (PAPs) and Accountable Person (APs) engage effectively with high-rise residents.

This is based on research with a wide cross-section of residents.

5 principles of engagement

1. Understand who lives in each building

What we know: Not all residents are the same.

Understanding who lives in a high-rise building is the first step to putting residents at the heart of building safety.

What to do: Find out who residents are so that you can communicate
effectively with them and design safety systems that respond to their needs.

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2. Engage via multiple channels

What we know: Residents access information in different ways.

A ‘one-size fits all’ approach to engaging with residents about important safety matters will not work for everyone.

What to do: Engage with residents using a variety of channels.

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3. Communicate information effectively

What we know: Fire and building safety is important for residents but it is often not a top-of-mind concern.

It can also be confusing to understand.

What to do: Use accessible communication approaches and mixed formats to help residents understand and familiarise themselves with systems that make them safer

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4. Listen to residents

What we know: Residents feel safer when they can reach out to their building
owners or managers simply and straightforwardly whenever they need to.

What to do: Make it easy for residents to:

• request information
• respond to a consultation
• raise concerns
• escalate complaints

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5. Be inclusive of everyone

What we know: Many residents, including non-English speakers and disabled residents or those with long term health conditions, face additional barriers that limit them from engaging with building safety.

What to do: Understand what additional barriers some residents face, and how to remove them, so that all residents feel and are safer.

Other useful information

• Safety in high-rise residential buildings: accountable persons 
• Preparing a resident engagement strategy
• Keeping information about a higher-risk building: the golden thread
• High-rise residential building information accountable persons must provide
• Building safety guides for accountable persons
• BSR to introduce more proportionate and targeted approach for higher-risk building assessments