How the Building Safety Act Flipped Property Management on Its Head
Jun 26, 2025
How the Building Safety Act Flipped Property Management on Its Head
In putting this blog together it dawned on me that a few words were worth saying about the Building Safety Act of 2022. A monumental piece of legislation, the effects of which are only now becoming apparent in practice.
From Grenfell to a New Mind-Set
Grenfell was our industry’s wake-up call. It was certainly one for me when I sat with my morning coffee watching the horror of the news unfold before my eyes back in Summer, 2017.
The Building Safety Act 2022 wasn't just another layer of red tape—it was a wholesale culture shift in reaction to Grenfell. Resident safety now trumps cost and convenience, and the buck now stops with clear, named people.
Accountability—No Hiding Place
For any block over 18 m or seven storeys, you need a Principal Accountable Person who is responsible for the “golden thread” of live safety data. Every high-risk building had to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator by October 2023, and the safety-case paperwork is now a rolling obligation. Miss it and you’re looking at unlimited fines—or worse.
Thirty Years of Looking Over Your Shoulder
The Act stretched the limitation period for building-safety defects to 30 years retrospectively (15 going forward). In plain English: if a cladding or fire-stopping flaw dates back to 1995, someone can still come knocking. That makes bullet-proof records and proactive defect hunting non-negotiable for any managing agent who wants to sleep at night.
Compliance Is Now ‘Always-On’
The old annual inspection is dead. Gateway approvals mirror CDM but with sharper teeth, and they trigger whenever you make a material change—think façade swap or rooftop kit. If the paperwork isn’t watertight, your project stalls, period. Early engagement with competent consultants is money well spent.
Tech Is Your New Best Mate
Cloud registers, BIM models and resident portals aren’t fancy add-ons—they’re the only sane way to maintain that golden thread. We’re talking IoT smoke-detector data feeding straight into dashboards, AI flagging missing fire-door certs and push notifications keeping leaseholders in the loop. It’s transparency that buys you trust.
Raising the Bar for Managing Agents
The Act has blended the roles of facilities manager, building-control officer and claims handler. Future tweaks—like those promised in the Leasehold & Freehold Reform Act—will only expand that remit. Agents who embrace safety leadership will thrive; those who tick boxes and hope for the best will get left behind.
My thoughts are that we've already seen the block management industry become more professionalised and that's only going to continue. The next generation of PMs need gear up for a knowledge upgrade on their older colleagues. All things compliance will now become mandatory learning.
Joe Mallon MRICS FTPI
Founder, The Block Coach