The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have written to managers and owners of high-rise blocks warning them about “unacceptably high charges” for the “services related to the production of safety case reports”.
The joint letter comes from Lee Rowley MP, Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Building Safety, and Philip White, Director of Building Safety at HSE. Dated 17 April 2024, the letter acknowledges the recent changes that have led to a “more comprehensive and coherent regulatory framework” in building safety, adding that key building information of over 12,000 buildings has already been submitted to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
Part of the step change includes the requirement to pull together evidence and documentation to produce a safety case report for the BSR. However, both DLUHC and HSE have expressed their concerns over the “cost and type of documentation” needed as part of these submissions.
“In recent months, we have been made aware of concerns regarding both the cost and type of documentation which is needed to create a safety case. We have also been made aware of unacceptably high charges being quoted and charged for services related to the production of safety case reports. We can see, incorrectly, that some are inferring that new investigations and assessments need to be commissioned for all aspects of building safety cases instead of utilising existing ones. This includes fire engineering, building surveys, and other specialist activities – something which is often then compounded by unreasonable management fees for their provision,” the letter reads.
Inside Housing reports that some of the costs relating to building safety compliance and the production of safety case reports can be passed on to leaseholders through the service charge, as per government guidelines. However, both Lee Rowley and Philip White reiterate that by law, “service charges must be reasonable” and that this should be “communicated effectively to leaseholders”.
“Leaseholders should be able to understand what they are being charged for and why, how much it will cost, and how long the work is expected to take. This is essential for the proper management of the building.”
The letter adds: “If you own or manage a high-rise building, you should already have been keeping much of the information required for the safety case reports. It would be extremely unusual to have none of this information to hand already.”
Thus, the focus should be on “ensuring that the arrangements to manage the safety of residents and visitors in the building are effective and appropriate so that serious safety risks are identified and addressed proportionately”.
“The law is clear: the safety case, and the safety case report exist to prevent building safety failures (that is the spread of fire and structural failure) that could result in serious loss of life. Any proposed work to produce these should only be justified against that standard. The safety case and safety case report should not cover issues unrelated to the spread of fire and structural failure.”
DLUHC and the HSE will “continue to monitor very closely the actions of those within this sector” and will publicly call out” instances of “inappropriate behaviour”.
“Most of this sector is already doing the right thing; others should take heed of this letter and the advice contained therein immediately,” the letter concludes.
You can read the full letter here.