A safety case report sets out the building safety risks of a high-rise residential building and how they are being managed. The two risk categories defined by the regime are:
The report belongs to the principal accountable person (PAP). It should be prepared as soon as possible when the building is or becomes occupied, or when an entity becomes the PAP — and must be sent to BSR whenever BSR asks for it, including when the PAP is told to apply for a building assessment certificate. Versions should carry a date or version number.
| Section | Information described in BSR guidance |
|---|---|
| Basic building information | Address, HRB registration number, build date, height, storeys, floorplans, unit types, common parts, resident profile, services and utilities (including gas routing). |
| People responsible | PAP, owner, other accountable persons, Responsible Persons, managing agents — with contact details and information-sharing arrangements. |
| Construction methods & materials | Structural elements, construction methods (e.g. large panel system), load-bearing arrangements, façade and secondary systems, foundations and ground conditions. |
| Structural condition | History of structural problems, investigations and remedies; arrangements for keeping the building structurally sound; surveys and inspections — including the competence of those who carried them out. |
| Building work & remediation history | All work since construction that could affect safety risks, dated; LPS buildings must address post-Ronan Point remediation; in-progress work must describe interim risk management. |
| Fire safety measures | How the building's fire standards are known; external wall systems; compartmentation; fire doors; smoke control; escape routes; stairs; detection; suppression. |
| Risk assessments | Summary of each AP's building safety risk assessments: method (e.g. HAZID or bow tie), assessors' competence, scenarios, likelihood, consequences, and how risks are managed. |
| Emergency plan | Evacuation strategy, resident communication, additional needs — and facilities for the fire service. |
Two requirements in the guidance matter enormously to construction-phase teams:
In other words, the safety case does not start at handover. It starts with what the construction phase recorded — the golden thread our companion article describes.
The safety case sits inside a wider assurance system: building registration, the building assessment certificate (applied for when BSR directs), mandatory occurrence reporting in occupation, and the resident engagement strategy. For developers and contractors, the commercial relevance is direct — an incomplete construction record can impede safety assessment and create further investigation work. The safety case report is distinct from registration and the building assessment certificate. The completion certificate is the first test of that record; the safety case is the recurring one.
The principal accountable person for the building. Management tasks can be outsourced, but the duty to have the report cannot be.
When BSR tells the PAP to apply for a building assessment certificate, and at any other time BSR asks for it.
It should be prepared as soon as possible once the building becomes occupied. In practice, preparing it from a complete golden thread handover is dramatically easier than reconstructing it later.
The guidance requires the report to explain what was done to try to find the missing information — absence must be narrated, not concealed.
The golden thread (BSA s.88, SI 2024/41) is the kept record; the safety case report is the risk-based account built from it. A weak thread produces a weak case.
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Discuss a readiness review →This article is general guidance and not legal or building-control advice. Regulatory references reflect the position at 13 September 2026.