High-rise buildings

There’s lots of useful information that we share with residents in our high-rise buildings, in addition to building safety records (see section about these further down the page).

Here are details of the type of information available and how you can access it.

Building assessment certificate (BAC)

• These are issued by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) and demonstrate that a high-rise building meets the highest safety standards.
• The BSR has a phased programme of BAC applications, and we need to wait for them to tell us when they are ready for us to apply. We’ll let you know when your BAC is available.
• You can find out more about the certificates here.
• When your BAC is available, you can request it by email.

Building Safety Regulator (BSR) registration

• We have to register all of our high-rise buildings with the BSR.
• You can check that your block has been registered here on the government website.

EWS1 form

• If you’re a leaseholder and are looking to sell, remortgage or buy more shares in your home, lenders may ask for an EWS1 certificate.
• To request an EWS1 form, please email us.

Fire Risk Assessment (FRA)

• FRAs help us identify whether there are any potential fire risks in a building and, if there are, what needs to be done to reduce them.
• The assessment looks at both the building and the people who use it.
• To request an FRA, please email us.
• Please note, it you need a copy of the FRA for a mortgage application, please email our homeownership approvals team.

Safety case report

• These reports set out the building safety risks of a high-rise residential building and how they are being managed.
• We have to provide a copy of the report to the BSR when they request it, and as part of the BAC process (see above for more information about BACs).
• As we are Principal Accountable Person (see Accountability for high-rise buildings above) for over 300 buildings, we’re working through a programme to produce the reports, which is prioritised by height. This means your safety case report may not yet have been produced. 
• You can find out more about safety case reports here on the government website.
• When the safety case report for your block is produced, you'll be able to request it by email.

Other useful information

Companies House information (for Deed of Certificate)

• If you’re a leaseholder requesting a Landlord Certificate, you’ll be able to find information needed for your Deed of Certificate at Companies House.
• Information is available here on the Companies House website.

Land registry deeds and documents

• This information is for leaseholders only and includes copies of your lease, the official registry entry and title plan for your property.
• We also include the information in the document pack we provide on completion of property purchases.
• You can obtain copies of the information from the Land registry.

There are defined roles, responsibilities and legal duties for organisations involved in high-rise buildings to make sure that fire and structural safety is managed effectively and consistently. The roles are 'Accountable Person' and 'Principal Accountable Person', although they will generally be held by an organisation, rather than an individual person.

You can find out more about the roles and the legal duties here on the government website.

Whilst local authorities are responsible for building control approval on lower rise blocks, it's the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) who oversees and approves building work on high-rise (sometimes called higher-risk) buildings.

The BSR checks building control applications to make sure that the proposed work complies with building regulations, will be managed properly and only people who are competent to do the job will be appointed.

For more information about the duties of those involved in HRB projects, check out this guidance.  

Do you need building control approval for all work?

No, you don’t need it for the following:

• most repairs, replacements and maintenance work (except to heating systems, oil tanks, fuse boxes and glazing units)
• emergency repairs that are needed to manage an urgent risk to the health, safety or welfare of people in or about the building
• new power and lighting points, or changes to existing circuits (except around baths and showers)
• replacing baths, toilets, basins, sinks, gutters, downpipes and external doors where less than 50% of the surface is glazed.
• installing insulation in roof spaces or under timber floors

You also don’t need to apply for building control approval for work carried out under the competent person scheme work.

Building Safety Records (BSRs) contain lots of useful information about how we keep you safe and what you need to do to keep you, the people you live with, and your neighbours safe, including:

• the evacuation strategy for your block
• the range of fire safety measures in place
• details of how the block was constructed
• what you should do in the unlikely event of a fire
• findings from the most recent fire risk assessment (FRA), including details of any action we need to take
• information on the regular servicing, testing and checks we carry out.

We send copies of BSRs to residents in our high-rise buildings once a year and also publish them on My Peabody.

The Building Safety Regulator (BSR) was established, and given new powers, as part of the Building Safety Act 2022. Their objective, like ours, is to keep people safe at home. The way they do this is by:

• regulating high-rise, higher risk buildings
• raising safety standards of all buildings
• helping building control, design and construction professionals to improve their skills and competence.

The BSR regulates building safety risks. These are the potential dangers from structural failure and fire spread. You can find out more about the BSR and watch a short video about what structural failure and fire spread mean here on the BSR website.

If we're what's called the Principal Accountable Person for a high-rise building (see Accountability for high-rise buildings' above), we need to register it with the BSR. For more information about the register, check here on the government website.

We carry out monthly checks on lifts and essential fire-fighting equipment, including:

• lifts for use by fire fighters
• evacuation lifts
• inlets and outlets for dry-rising and wet-rising mains
• fire alarm, detection and suppression systems
• evacuation alert systems
• smoke ventilation systems.

We record the outcome of these monthly checks and they’re currently available on request (please email us). We’re planning to make the information available via My Peabody and will provide updates as the project progresses.

As residents, you will know your building well. That’s why it’s important we work together to agree the most effective ways for you to raise queries about building safety, and for us to share and get your input on important building safety information and decisions.

Working with you to develop a resident engagement strategy for your block is one of the many key requirements within the building safety regulations introduced in 2023. The strategy sets out how residents are:

• involved in building safety decisions
• informed about building safety decisions

You can find out more about resident engagement strategies here on the government website.

We’ve contacted residents in all of our high-rise buildings to get your input on how you want us to engage and share information and introductory engagement plans are being finalised. 

Safety rules for medium and high-rise buildings came into effect in January 2023. These regulations recognise that flat front doors play a crucial role in stopping the spread of fire and smoke. That's why we need to check your door once a year to make sure it meets the latest safety standards.

You can find out more about why flat entrance doors are so important and what the checks involve here.

We carry out FRAs each year on our high-rise buildings. They’re important as they help us identify whether there are any potential fire risks in a building and, if there are, what needs to be done to reduce them.

The assessment not only looks at the building, but also the people who use it, which means there may be actions that residents need to take as well as us (for example, making sure communal areas are kept clear).

As with building safety records, we’re planning to publish FRA information on My Peabody and will let you know when this goes live.

Reporting safety occurrences

We visit our high-rise buildings regularly and carry out a wide range of checks to make sure they’re managed and maintained safely. Whatever the reason may be for visiting a block, if a safety risk is identified that could cause fire or smoke to spread, or result in a block’s structural failure, it must be reported to the Building Safety Manager (BSM) to review.

As part of their review, the BSM considers:

• the extent of the potential safety incident
• the likelihood of it occurring, and
• the potential outcomes.

If the BSM believes the risk could result in fire or smoke spreading, or cause structural failure of the block, as well as taking action to fix the issue, we must submit a report to the Building Safety Regulator. This process is known as mandatory occurrence reporting (MOR). 

Who should report safety occurrences?

It isn’t only Peabody colleagues who should report a safety risk – we also encourage residents, contractors and other users of our buildings to let us know if they see something that could cause fire or smoke to spread, or result in structural failure.

How do you report a safety occurrence?

You can report safety occurrences in a number of ways:

• Tell your Building Safety Manager or Neighbourhood Manager
• Raise it as a building safety complaint
• Contact us via our regular channels, including 0300 123 3456, online or via My Peabody.
• In the unlikely event of an emergency, call 999.

Find out more

We have a mandatory occurrence reporting policy that sets out our approach to identifying and managing safety occurrences in occupied high rise residential buildings. 
It includes:

• Our approach to identifying safety occurrences (or MORs)
• Our process for notifying and reporting safety occurrences to the Building Safety Regulator
• Who we must inform - including residents and other relevant parties
• Examples of the type of risks or occurrences that need to be reported
• Data protection principles.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the policy, please contact us on 0300 123 3456 or online. 

If someone in your household needs assistance to get out in an emergency, it’s important that you have the right support in place. It’s also important that the emergency services have details so they can deal with incidents effectively.

So, if you or someone you live with might need support, for example because they have a disability, or can’t use the stairs, hear alarms or move quickly, please take a few minutes to provide details on this short online survey We will then share any information you provide with the emergency services so they're aware that someone would need assistance in the event of a fire.

To find out how we use and share information, please check our privacy notice.

The form also provides details of who you should talk to about getting support in place.

New regulations on wayfinding signage are now in place for high-rise buildings to help the fire and rescue services and we’ve almost completed a project to install signage in all our buildings that are 18 metres or higher.

• The signs need to be located on every landing of a protected stairway, and every corridor, lobby or open access balcony that firefighting lifts open onto.
• The government has introduced strict guidelines that need to be followed in terms of the size of the sign, the lettering and numbers, and where the signs should be mounted on the wall. 
• We're covering all costs associated with installing the signs and no charges are being passed on to residents.

You can find out more about the new wayfinding signage regulations here on the government website.

As well as regulating the way we manage and keep our buildings safe, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR - see above) is also clear on what your responsibilities as residents are. Their message is that people's actions and the way they behave can affect the safety of buildings. The BSR says you must:

• not damage, remove or interfere with relevant safety items, such as fire doors, signage, sprinklers, smoke alarms or fire extinguishers
• not do anything that could increase or create a risk of spread of fire or structural failure, for example carrying out refurbishment or building work that increases or creates a building safety risk
• help by giving us any information we ask for that we need to carry out our duties

If you want to carry out any refurbishment or building work in your flat, you must notify us before you start as it may not be permitted.

Allow access to your flat

You must keep your flat safe. We may ask for access to your flat, at a reasonable time, so we can assess and manage building safety risks. We can also ask for access if we think you're causing a risk to the safety of the building.

Any request we make must:

• be in writing
• explain why we need access
• be made at least 48 hours before the requested access time.