GovWire

This guidance is for principal designers and principal contractors who are responsible for a higher-risk building:

• in construction
• undergoing building work

A higher-risk building is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys, and either:

• has at least 2 residential units
• is a hospital or care home

Building safety occurrences

A building safety occurrence is an incident involving, or risk that could cause:

• structural failure, which poses a risk to people in and around the building
• the spread of fire or smoke, which poses a risk to people in and around the building

If it meets the criteria of what must be reported to BSR, you must submit a mandatory occurrence report.

What must be reported to BSR

Mandatory occurrence reports relate to the building in construction or to the building undergoing building work. They do not relate to the construction site in general or any temporary structures.

Mandatory occurrences must always be reported, even if the cause of the incident or risk is immediately fixed.

If you have a duty to make a mandatory occurrence report, you must not rely on others to make the report. If you know a report has already been made, you can decide not to make a report, but you should get a copy of it. You should keep the copy of the report as evidence that the incident or risk has been reported.

Examples of what must be reported

Examples of building safety occurrences that could meet the criteria of what must be reported to BSR, include:

• defective building work, including defective competent person scheme work that has been done as part of the wider building work
• fire safety issues likely to result in the spread of fire
• the use of non-compliant products or incompatible compliant products in the construction of the building
• inappropriate or incorrect installation of construction products
• product failure against specification and claimed performance

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR)

During building work, if there is a dangerous occurrence or someone is injured or dies because of a work-related incident, then you may need to make a RIDDOR report (hse.gov.uk).

If an incident is reported under RIDDOR, it must also be reported as a mandatory occurrence if it meets the criteria of what must be reported to BSR .

When to report

Tell us a soon as possible

You must submit a notice as soon as possible when an incident occurs, or you have discovered a risk that meets the criteria of what must be reported to BSR.

To submit a notice, youll need to tell us:

• your name and contact details
• the building control application reference, or the buildings registration number
• if the building is occupied, complete but not occupied, or under construction
• the site or building address
• a brief description of the risk or incident
• the date and time the risk or incident happened or was identified

Give us a full report

Once you have submitted a notice you must then give us a full report within 10 days of the incident occurring, or the risk being discovered. You can give us the full report immediately after submitting the notice, if you have the information available.

To submit a full report, youll need to tell us:

• if you are, or if you represent a principal contractor or a principal designer
• if you are reporting an incident or a risk
• if the incident or risk relates to structural failure or the spread of fire, or both
• what happened and what caused it
• who has been affected and in what way
• what you have done to keep people safe, which includes any action you have taken to address the incident or risk
• how the incident or risk was discovered

Missing information

After you submit the report, well will contact you if we need any more information.At the time of making the report, you may not have all the information. If you intend to gather more information after submitting the report, tell us when you expect to have any extra information.

How to report

You can submit a mandatory occurrence notice and report if you are, or you represent:

• a principal contractor
• a principal designer

Others can report building safety concerns to either the principal designer or principal contractor.

After making a report

Well review the report and decide if any further action is needed. Action may involve:

• deciding that the incident or risk did not need to be reported
• deciding that no further action is needed as sufficient measures have already been put in place to manage the risk
• reviewing the information to determine the severity of the incident or risk
• starting an investigation

If we decide that no further action is needed, well contact the person who submitted the report to let them know.

When an investigation is carried out, the findings will be reviewed and well decide if any action is needed.

Check if a change control application is also needed

If you submit a mandatory occurrence report, a change control application may also be needed to fix the problem.

For example, during construction you discover the load points on the design plans have been miscalculated. If this is not fixed, it could cause structural failure which meets the criteria of what must be reported to BSR.

In this case, the principal designer has the duty to make the mandatory occurrence report. However, the principal contractor also has a duty to check that the principal d

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