Once a higher-risk building is occupied, the Accountable Person (and any Building Safety Manager they appoint) carries ongoing duties under the Building Safety Act and its regulations. This overview maps the main occupied-phase obligations Principal Designers and clients should plan for at handover.
“Occupation is not the end of BSA compliance — it is a new duty-holder regime with its own deadlines, residents, and regulator touchpoints.”
Core occupied-phase duties
Accountable Persons must manage building safety risks, maintain the golden thread in occupation, engage residents, and interact with the Building Safety Regulator on registration, KBI, occurrences, returns, and notices.
- Safety case report and 10 risk management principles (SI 2023/907)
- Key Building Information — 16 categories (SI 2023/396)
- Mandatory occurrence reporting with BSR deadlines (BSA s.87 / SI 2023/907 reg.6)
- Resident information rights and complaints (SI 2024/41; SI 2023/907 reg.12)
- FRA, fire doors, EEIS and PEEP arrangements (FSO / FSER)
- Building Assessment Certificate and renewal tracking
- BSR annual returns, fees, and compliance notices
Residents at the centre
Residents have statutory channels for safety information, information requests, safety concerns, and complaints. Duty-holders need acknowledgement and response workflows with working-day SLAs — including reconsideration where applicable — and engagement strategies that are reviewed on a defined cycle.
Multi-HRB portfolios
Registered providers and local authorities often manage many HRBs. Building-scoped data, clear selectors, and portfolio visibility help APs and BSMs prioritise deadlines without mixing evidence between buildings.
Threadsovereign’s occupied portal is built for Accountable Persons and Building Safety Managers, with multi-HRB selection and statutory paths on every paid plan.
Building Assessment Certificates
Among occupied AP duties, Building Assessment Certificates deserve special attention. When the BSR directs the Principal Accountable Person to apply, a 28-day statutory window generally begins. The application pack is specific — safety case report, resident engagement strategy, mandatory occurrence reporting evidence, and (where applicable) serial numbers of compliance notices in force — and refusal has a review and First-tier Tribunal path.
That machinery is distinct from Gateways 1–3 and from merely storing a safety case PDF. For the full procedure — direction, pack, fees, refusal, and reassessment — see threadsovereign.co.uk/blog/bac-application-guide. For product support of direction clocks, pack completeness, and appeal tracking, see threadsovereign.co.uk/bac-readiness-software.
What design teams should hand over
Principal Designers and clients reduce occupation risk by delivering a complete golden thread, formal handover package (BSA s.76), and clear registration and KBI starting points. Gaps at handover become AP compliance risk on day one of occupation.
Conclusion
Accountable Person duties are broad but manageable with structured workflows, clear ownership, and a single auditable record. Explore threadsovereign.co.uk/hrb-compliance-software, the BAC guide at threadsovereign.co.uk/blog/bac-application-guide, and the Building Safety Act FAQ at threadsovereign.co.uk/faq.
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Cochise Derrick
Founder & Director
Cochise Derrick is the founder and director of Threadsovereign Ltd and the sole architect and developer of the Threadsovereign platform. With a background as a lead developer on central government digital services and current SC clearance, he brings the technical depth and regulatory understanding required to build compliance infrastructure that duty-holders can genuinely rely on. Threadsovereign is the result of over a year of focused development against the Building Safety Act 2022 and its statutory instruments.
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Product pages and FAQ for duty-holders implementing these workflows.