A ‘golden thread of information’ for High-Risk Buildings

Following on from the Hackitt review in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017, the government has made drastic changes to the building safety regime through the passing of the Building Safety Act 2022, Higher-Risk Buildings Regulations 2023, Building Safety (Responsible Actors Scheme and Prohibitions) Regulations 2023 and the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) Regulations (HBR) 2023.  This new legislation places a greater responsibility on developers, constructors, landlords, and management companies.

One of the recommendations from the Hackitt Review was that, for each building recognised as high-risk, there should be a ‘golden thread of information’ that would allow someone to understand the building, keep it safe and would contain the information required to show that the building was compliant with relevant building regulations at each stage of its construction and occupation. This information should also identify building safety risks and evidence how these risks are managed and mitigated. The main purpose of this new requirement is to ensure that the right people have the information required to ensure compliance with all relevant building regulations during construction and to enable building owners and managers to have easy access to evidence of any required risk assessments, safety procedures and risk management plans.

The obligation to maintain the ‘golden thread of information’ is placed on the dutyholders’ and ‘accountable persons. The BSA 2022 established the new dutyholder regime which places a general responsibility on ‘dutyholders’ and ‘accountable persons’ to plan, manage and monitor their work to ensure the building work complies with regulations.

The information must be stored in accordance with the ‘golden thread principals’ which were established in the July 2021 Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) Report and set out in the HBR 2023.  The principals require the information to be:

  • digital;
  • accurate at the date of creation and kept up to date;
  • secure;
  • accessible;
  • understandable and consistent; and
  • clear as to who should be accountable for each individual record.

One of the major differences to the previous requirements for the storage of health and safety information contained in Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, is the requirement for all information to be stored digitally and in the same place. The requirement for the information to be stored digitally may affect smaller contractors and developers disproportionately due to the fact that they will be less likely to have centralised digital storage systems than their larger national counterparts.

The requirement for a golden thread of information applies to existing high-risk buildings and the new regime will apply to the construction of new high-risk building from 1 October 2023. More details on what information must be stored can be found on the Health and Safety Executive Guidance note

Our Commercial Property team have experience in acting for developers and property investors from the acquisition of a site right up to and including the sale of the developed property/properties.

For further advice and assistance please contact our Commercial Property team on 01604 828282 / 01908 660966 or email info@franklins-sols.co.uk

Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for general informational purposes only and is accurate as of the date of publication. It should not be construed as legal advice. Laws and regulations may change, and the content may not reflect the most current legal developments. We recommend consulting with a qualified solicitor for specific legal guidance tailored to your situation.