TOOL - APPLICABLE PERSONS
Who's actually responsible for your building?
Fire and building safety law creates several distinct duty-holder roles, and they catch people out. The Responsible Person, the Accountable Person, the Principal Accountable Person. They aren't the same thing, they sit under different laws, and one building can hold all three. Answer a few questions to see which apply to yours, and who's likely to hold them.
The roles in plain English:
The Fire Safety Order says every non-domestic premises and the common parts of every residential building must have a Responsible Person (RP). That's the foundation, regardless of building height or type.
On top of that, if the building is a Higher-Risk Building (HRB) under the Building Safety Act 2022, it also needs Accountable Persons (APs) and exactly one Principal Accountable Person (PAP). The HRB regime sits alongside the FSO, not instead of it.
This tool helps you work out which apply to your specific building.
Question 1 of 3
Does the building have common parts or shared areas?
Communal entrances, corridors, stairs, lift lobbies, shared plant rooms, refuse stores. Anything not inside an individual dwelling or unit.
Question 2 of 3
Is the building a Higher-Risk Building (HRB)?
An HRB is at least 18m tall OR has at least 7 storeys, AND contains at least 2 residential units. Purely commercial buildings (no flats) are never HRBs regardless of height. Not sure? Use the HRRB Checker tool →
Question 3 of 3
Is more than one party responsible for repairing different parts of the building?
For example: the freeholder repairs the structure and common parts, but a head lessee repairs the commercial unit. Common in mixed-use and complex ownership.
This tool gives general, indicative guidance only. It does not determine who legally holds these roles, which depends on the specific ownership, leases and repairing obligations of your building. Always confirm with a competent professional. See our terms of use.
Cooperation duty — where RP and AP both apply
In an HRB, the RP and AP duties run side by side, not one or the other. The RP must take reasonable steps to identify the APs and cooperate with them. The APs must cooperate with each other and with the RP.
In a single-ownership building, the same legal person often holds both roles. In mixed-use or split-ownership buildings, the roles can be different parties with different priorities. Coordinating that is exactly where an independent partner earns its place.
WHY IT MATTERS
Different roles, different laws, real consequences
It's easy to assume "someone's responsible for fire safety" and leave it there. The law is more specific than that, and the distinctions matter.
The Responsible Person sits under the Fire Safety Order and exists for almost every building with common parts. The Accountable Person and Principal Accountable Person sit under the Building Safety Act and apply only to higher-risk buildings. The roles can overlap, the same party might hold more than one, or they might be split between a freeholder, a managing agent and a management company. And critically, where a higher-risk building has both, the law requires them to identify each other and cooperate.
Get the roles wrong and duties fall through the gaps. Nobody's quite sure who owns what, the cooperation doesn't happen, and the exposure sits with whoever turns out, on paper, to have held the role all along.
BEYOND THE CHECK
When you need more than a self check
If you're an Accountable Person
Building Safety Act & safety cases
From registration to a defensible safety case, with the AP and PAP duties properly mapped.
See Building Safety Act work →If you're the Responsible Person
Fire risk assessments
The legal baseline under the Fire Safety Order, building-specific and ready to defend.
See fire risk assessments →Not sure who holds what?
The roles depend on ownership, leases and repairing obligations, and they're rarely as obvious as they look. Tell us about your building and we'll help you map it properly.