Mandatory Occurrence Reporting: factsheet
Updated 5 April 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-bill-factsheets/mandatory-occurrence-reporting-factsheet
What are we going to do?
As part of the new more stringent building safety regime we are going to implement mandatory occurrence reporting for the design, construction and occupation stages of high-rise residential buildings and other buildings in scope of the new regime.
Mandatory occurrence reporting will legally require specific people responsible for the safety of these buildings to capture and report certain fire and structural safety issues (‘safety occurrences’) to the Building Safety Regulator.
Mandatory occurrence reporting will ensure that the regulator is able to capture any risks that could have a potential impact on safety and assess its relevance to other buildings, help drive intelligence-led enforcement, promote safety-conscious culture change, and improve safety standards and best practice across the built environment.
We will place duties on specific identified people responsible for the safety of these buildings, known as dutyholders, in order to make compliance with mandatory occurrence reporting a legal requirement. These duties are:
1. To establish and operate an effective mandatory occurrence reporting system to enable those on the site or in the building to report safety occurrences to the dutyholder(s).
2. To report safety occurrences to the Building Safety Regulator in a required manner.
Mandatory occurrence reporting will be compulsory for all high-rise residential buildings and other buildings in scope of the new regime from the point of [Gateway 2] (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-bill-factsheets/building-control-regime-for-higher-risk-buildings-gateways-2-and-3-factsheet) onwards.
During design and construction the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor will be responsible for mandatory occurrence reporting. During occupation the Principal Accountable Person will be primarily responsible for mandatory occurrence reporting.
Specific aspects of mandatory occurrence reporting, such as the definition of a safety occurrence, the requirements of a mandatory occurrence reporting system, and the way in which a safety occurrence must be reported to the Building Safety Regulator will be set out in secondary legislation.
Mandatory occurrence reporting will be integrated into the other critical parts of the new building safety regime, such as the [Golden Thread] and will complement voluntary occurrence reporting and whistleblowing to provide comprehensive safety reporting.
How are we going to do it?
We intend to publish draft regulations during the Parliamentary passage of the Bill. This will set out our proposed requirements for mandatory occurrence reporting in design and construction to ensure the public, industry and Parliamentarians have this information during passage of the Bill. These regulations will be subject to consultation once the Building Safety Bill has gained Royal Assent.
Background
Following the Grenfell fire, the government appointed Dame Judith Hackitt to lead an independent review of building regulations and fire safety. In her report, Building a Safer Future, Dame Judith recommended that mandatory occurrence reporting be put in place for certain high-rise residential buildings, and the government has committed to implementing this recommendation.
How will stakeholders know what and what not to report under mandatory occurrence reporting?
We will set out further detail in the draft regulations and will continue to work closely with the regulator and industry to ensure that guidance is published which assist dutyholders in identifying the safety occurrences to be reported under mandatory occurrence reporting.
What measures will be in place to avoid confusion and overlap between mandatory occurrence reporting and other reporting systems such as RIDDOR and voluntary occurrence reporting?
We will continue to work closely with the regulator and industry to ensure that appropriately detailed guidance is published which will make clear the differences in intent, scope and purpose of the different safety reporting systems.
What measures will be in place for residents or workers if the dutyholder(s) do not comply with mandatory occurrence reporting?
Residents who wish to make complaints will have a clear route to raise issues with their building owner and, if necessary, the Building Safety Regulator, as set out in clauses 97 and 98 of the Bill.
The government intends to make the Building Safety Regulator a prescribed person under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, protecting disclosures relating to building safety. This will provide protections to workers who ‘blow the whistle’ to the regulator on dutyholders not complying with mandatory occurrence reporting.
Key facts
The total number of high-rise residential multi-occupied residential buildings of 18 metres or more in height, or at least seven storeys (whichever is reached first) in England is estimated as of April 2020 to be approximately 12,500. Mandatory occurrence reporting will apply to these buildings, as well as any new and future buildings that are within scope of the new more stringent building safety regime.