OFTEN THE SAME PERSON
Responsible Person or Accountable Person?
Two different laws, two different duties, and in a high-rise they can land on the same people at once. Here is who is who, and why the difference matters for your building.
One is about fire. The other is about the building.
DIFFERENT LAWS ENTIRELY
The Responsible Person comes from fire safety law, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. In a workplace it is the employer. In other premises it is whoever controls them for a trade or business, or the owner if no one else does. Since the Fire Safety Act 2021 put it beyond doubt, that duty also covers the structure and common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings. The Responsible Person answers for the fire risk assessment and for managing fire safety day to day.
The Accountable Person comes from building safety law, the Building Safety Act 2022. It is whoever holds a legal estate in the common parts of a higher-risk building, or carries a legal obligation to repair them. Where more than one person qualifies, the one responsible for the structure and exterior is the Principal Accountable Person. This role exists only for higher-risk buildings, and only once they are occupied.
So they are not two names for one thing, and they are not a choice between the two. The Responsible Person manages fire risk under fire safety law. The Accountable Person manages the wider building safety risks, the spread of fire and structural failure, under the Building Safety Act. In a high-rise residential building both apply, and often to the same freeholder or resident management company.
Does one land on your building, or both?
WHO IT LANDS ON
Responsible Person
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, strengthened by the Fire Safety Act 2021.
Fire safety.
The employer, the person in control of the premises for a business, or the owner where no one else has control.
Almost all non-domestic premises, plus the structure and common parts of multi-occupied residential buildings.
At all times the premises are in use.
Accountable Person
Building Safety Act 2022.
Building safety, the spread of fire and structural failure.
Whoever holds a legal estate in, or must repair, the common parts. The lead for the structure and exterior is the Principal Accountable Person.
Higher-risk buildings only: at least 18 metres or 7 storeys, and at least two residential units.
Once the building is occupied.
In a high-rise home, both at once
In a higher-risk residential building the fire safety duty and the building safety duty both apply. The same freeholder or resident management company is frequently the Responsible Person and an Accountable Person. The roles sit side by side. One does not replace the other.
What each role actually has to do
WHAT EACH ROLE OWNS
Under fire safety law
Carry out a fire risk assessment and keep it up to date.
Put in place and maintain the general fire precautions: escape routes, detection, signage and equipment.
Act on the assessment and manage fire safety day to day.
In multi-occupied residential buildings, share fire safety information with residents and cooperate with any other Responsible Persons.
Under building safety law
Assess and manage the building safety risks, the spread of fire and structural failure, in the parts you are responsible for.
Keep the building's safety information current, the golden thread.
Give residents the information they are entitled to and run a system for their complaints and concerns.
The lead role adds three duties
Where a building has more than one Accountable Person, the one responsible for the structure and exterior leads, and also has to:
Register the building with the Building Safety Regulator before it is occupied.
Prepare the safety case report and, when the Regulator calls it in, apply for a building assessment certificate.
Operate the mandatory occurrence reporting system.
Four things this distinction does not mean
WHERE PEOPLE TRIP UP
Myth
It is one role or the other.
Reality
In a higher-risk residential building both apply at once. Fire safety law and building safety law run in parallel, they do not take turns.
Myth
The Accountable Person replaced the Responsible Person.
Reality
The Building Safety Act added a duty, it did not remove one. The Responsible Person role carries on under the Fire Safety Order exactly as before.
Myth
Hand it to the managing agent and the duty is theirs.
Reality
You can appoint an agent to carry out the work, but the legal accountability stays with you. Neither role can be delegated away.
Myth
Only tall buildings have a Responsible Person.
Reality
Almost every non-domestic premises has one, from a shop to an office, whatever its height. It is the Accountable Person that is limited to higher-risk buildings.
Go deeper
KEEP READING
Service
Building Safety Act support
Where the duties get real, we help you meet them as an independent partner, with no works arm and no conflict.
See the service →Jargon
Jargon Buster
Plain-English definitions for the terms these two roles bring with them, from golden thread to relevant repairing obligation.
Open the Jargon Buster →Explainer
The Building Safety Act, in plain English
The wider Act the Accountable Person role sits inside, and what it asks of duty-holders.
Read the explainer →Explainer
What counts as higher-risk
The Accountable Person role only exists above the threshold. The 18 metre and seven storey tests, set out in full.
Read the explainer →Directors
Right to Manage directors
An RTM company can become the Accountable Person, and take the freeholder out of the regime entirely.
See what sits with you →Tool
Who holds the duties?
Answer a few questions and see who the Responsible Person and Accountable Person are likely to be on your building.
Work it out →Work out which duties land on you
Tell us about your building and we will map the roles, the laws behind them and what each one requires. Independent, and on your side, with no works arm and nothing to sell you but clarity.