Everyone should be safe and feel safe in their own homes.
Your home, your safety
Did you Know? If you live in a high-rise building in England, you have new rights.
We are the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
The Building Safety Act, 2022 gave us legal powers to help make sure tall buildings like the one you live in are safe.
When we refer to tall or high-rise residential buildings, we mean buildings which are 18 metres or seven or more floors in height1.
BSR regulates building safety risks. These are the potential dangers from structural failure and fire spread.
We will make sure the people responsible for keeping your building safe are managing these risks.
Understanding your rights
Your safety at home is at the heart of BSR’s work.
We’ve introduced measures including a new high-rise building register.
If your home is in a building 18 metres or seven or more floors tall, it must be registered with us. Check if your building is registered.
The register records where a building is and provides information on when and how it was built. It also helps identify safety risks which need to be managed.
The people or organisation who are responsible for your building’s safety must register the building. You may hear them referred to as ‘accountable persons’.
They are also legally responsible for managing the risks from the spread of fire and structural failure in the building.
Structural failure and fire spread
Your building’s accountable person(s) must do the following:
- provide you with safety information about your building
- engage with you and listen to your concerns
- encourage active involvement and feedback from people who live in the building
- provide a clear process for raising concerns or complaints
The information you need should be made available in different formats, so that everyone can access it.
Your voice matters, it is a two-way process. You should be involved in decisions about safety issues that might affect you.
What we can do for you
BSR regulates the risk of spread of fire and structural failure in tall buildings.
We will make sure your building’s accountable person(s) are managing these risks properly.
We will take action if they fail to carry out their legal responsibilities.
You should contact your building’s accountable person(s) about potential building safety risks in your building first.
If you still have concerns after you have reported a risk, you can contact us.
You may need to raise other safety issues about your building. Our ‘Your home, your safety’ newsletter will provide information on other organisations that can help.
Your home, your safety
You have a part to play too.
You also need to play your part to keep your building safe.
This is common sense and there are a few simple things you can do to keep you, your family and your neighbours safe.
Make sure you know what you need to do in an emergency and where to find information about fire safety.
Don’t remove or interfere with safety items. These include items such as fire doors, signs, sprinklers or fire extinguishers. Report any issues you find to your building manager.
Your building’s accountable person(s) needs to assess and manage any building safety risks. Sometimes they may need to access your property to do this. For your safety, you should allow access if they request it.
What you can do now
We want you to be safe and feel safe in your home.
Sign up for the ‘Your home, your safety’ newsletter to find out more:
- we will provide more detail about the information your building’s accountable person(s) must provide
- tell you how you can take part in important decisions about your building’s safety
- tell you how you can raise concerns
- provide other sources of help so you can live safely in your high-rise building community
- provide the information in different formats so everyone can access it
You can also let us know if your high-rise building isn’t registered with us.
Search the register portal using your building’s postcode.
Resident Management Companies (RMCs) in high-rise buildings
These work on behalf of leaseholders, who are shareholders in the company. Voluntary RMC directors, many of whom are also residents themselves, are elected by others living in the building.
Residents of high-rise buildings in England managed by RMCs, and those also under the Right to Manage scheme and Commonhold properties, can get more information here.
- These buildings are known as higher-risk buildings under the Building Safety Act 2022. ↩︎
Your home, your safety
Find out more in the new residents’ newsletter.