Building records a managing agent must hold under the Building Safety Act
Last reviewed · owner Mike Fellows · general information, not legal advice
The Building Safety Act 2022 applies its records regime to higher-risk buildings: at least 18 metres or seven storeys, with two or more residential units. The accountable person must keep the golden thread, the building's safety information held digitally and kept accurate, and the 2024 information regulations set out what it contains, how it must be stored, and who must be given it, including when the building changes hands.
Which buildings does the Building Safety Act's records regime cover?
Higher-risk buildings: at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys, containing at least two residential units. The regime bites in occupation, which is where managing agents meet it. A building either meets the definition or it does not. There is no discretion in it, and a portfolio with one qualifying block carries the full set of duties for that block regardless of how the rest of the portfolio looks.
What is the golden thread, and what must it contain?
The golden thread is the building's safety information, kept as a single accurate account of the building as it actually is: how it was designed and built, what has changed since, what the safety risks are and how they are being managed. The Higher-Risk Buildings (Keeping and Provision of Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2024 prescribe the categories, which include the information behind the safety case report, mandatory occurrence records, and the documents residents must be able to see. The test worth applying is simple. If the fire service, the regulator or an incoming manager asked for the building's information tomorrow, could you hand over something complete, current and legible? That is what the golden thread is.
Who is the accountable person, and what must they keep?
The accountable person is whoever holds the legal estate in the common parts or the repairing obligation for them, typically the freeholder, the residents' management company or the right-to-manage company. Where there is more than one, a principal accountable person is identified. Managing agents are usually not the accountable person, but they hold the records through which the accountable person's duties are met, which is why the quality of an agent's record keeping is now a statutory matter rather than a service standard. The accountable person must register the building, assess its building safety risks, prepare and keep the safety case report, run a system for mandatory occurrence reporting, engage residents, and keep the prescribed golden thread information.
What form must the records take, and who may ask to see them?
Digital, secure, accurate, and transferable. Paper in a basement does not meet the standard, and neither does a filing structure only one person understands. The information must be provided to the Building Safety Regulator when required, to residents for the categories they are entitled to see, and to the next accountable person or manager on handover. The transfer duty is the part most often overlooked: the golden thread is designed to outlive every individual freeholder, agent and contractor who contributes to it.
Sources
- Building Safety Act 2022 (2022)
- The Higher-Risk Buildings (Keeping and Provision of Information etc.) (England) Regulations 2024 (2024)
This page is general information for property professionals, not legal advice. For a decision that matters, take advice on your specific facts.