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Guidance: Applying to register a high-rise residential building

Health Safety Executive

April 12
08:07 2023

After you have applied to register a building we will ask you to submit structure and safety information, and later, a safety case report.

Check if a building needs to be registered

Only high-rise residential buildings must be registered. A high-rise residential building is a structure that has:

  • at least 7 floors or is at least 18 metres in height
  • at least 2 residential units

You do not have to register buildings that are entirely used as a:

  • hospital
  • care home
  • secure residential institution
  • hotel
  • military premises
  • prison

Connected structures

If 2 or more structures are connected in certain ways, then they can be registered as one building.

Check who can register the building

The principal accountable person is legally responsible for making sure the building is registered.

A principal accountable person can be an individual or an organisation such as a:

  • housing association
  • local authority
  • company

If the principal accountable person is an organisation, then someone within the organisation should be the single point of contact for the Building Safety Regulator. This individual should have authority or duties relating to the safety of the building, but this does not make them the principal accountable person. It is the organisation that is the principal accountable person.

The principal accountable person can authorise in writing someone else to register the building on their behalf, for example a managing agent or legal representative. This does not make the authorised person the principal accountable person.

Register the building

Deadlines

All occupied high-rise residential buildings must be registered by 30 September 2023. After this date, it is an offence if a building is occupied but not registered.

New buildings completed after 1 October 2023 must have a relevant completion certificate or final notice and must be registered before the building is occupied.

How to apply to register the building

You can apply to register a high-rise residential building online.

You will need:

After you have applied to register the building

We will ask you to submit structure and safety information.

Depending on which amount of time is the longest, you must submit the information either:

  • within 28 days of applying to register the building
  • by 30 September 2023

For example, if you applied to register the building on 30 April 2023, you will have until 30 September 2023 to submit the structure and safety information. If you applied to register the building on 29 September 2023, you will have 28 days to submit the information.

Notifying us of changes

You must notify the Building Safety Regulator if there are any changes to the registration or building information you have submitted.

Information about the building youll need

This guidance is to help you understand what building information youll need when you apply to register a high-rise residential building.

Number of floors at or above ground level

Count all floors from ground level to the top floor, whether they have residential units or not.

Count mezzanine floors that are 50% or more of the area of other floors. If a mezzanine floor is less than 50% of the area of any of the other floors, do not count it as a floor.

Do not count:

  • floors below ground level
  • the roof

Ground level

Ground level is the level of the land immediately next to the building. If that land is uneven, it is the lowest part of the land immediately next to the building. Any floors below that level are below ground level.

Height of the building

Measure the height in metres from ground level to the highest floor surface. Do not measure the roof.

Number of residential units

Count all the residential units, whether occupied or not. A residential unit is a place where someone can live, such as a flat, apartment, maisonette or a room in student accommodation.

When the building was completed

Tell us the year the building was originally built. If you do not know the exact year, you can select from a range.

If the building was completed in 2023 or later, you must tell us:

  • the name of the building control body that issued the completion certificate or final notice
  • the certificate or notice number

For buildings completed before 2023, you should take all reasonable steps to submit the completion certificate or final notice information.

Published 12 April 2023

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