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Update: Design through occupation — golden thread, gateways, safety case and KBI on every plan — User manual

BSA 2022

Key Building Information (KBI): The 16 Categories and 28-Day Deadline

SI 2023/396 requires 16 categories of Key Building Information within 28 days of registration. What APs must record and how to stay submission-ready.

Cochise Derrick

Cochise Derrick

Founder & Director

Published 2 July 2026Last reviewed 3 July 20269 min read

Key Building Information (KBI) is prescribed information about a higher-risk building that must be provided to the Building Safety Regulator. SI 2023/396 sets out 16 categories (regs 3–18) and a 28-day submission window from registration. This guide summarises what Accountable Persons need to capture and keep current.

KBI is the regulator’s structured snapshot of the building — incomplete or stale categories create avoidable compliance risk.

What the 16 categories cover

Categories span building identity and use, structure, external walls and roofs, staircases, energy systems, evacuation strategy, and fire and smoke control equipment — including ancillary buildings and change-of-use scenarios where the regulations apply.

Each category should have a clear completion status, supporting evidence in the golden thread, and an owner responsible for updates when the building changes.

The 28-day deadline

Following registration, duty-holders have a defined window to submit KBI electronically in the form required by the regulator. Material changes can also trigger amendment duties. Tracking the deadline in the same system as registration and the safety case reduces last-minute gaps.

Keeping KBI current

KBI is not a one-time form. When building information changes materially, Accountable Persons need a controlled process to update categories, evidence, and any related safety case assertions — and to notify the BSR where registration rules require it.

  • Named owner for each KBI category
  • Evidence linked to golden thread documents
  • Deadline and amendment reminders for the AP team
  • Alignment with safety case and resident information

Practical tools for multi-HRB portfolios

Housing associations and portfolio APs benefit from building-scoped KBI tracking across multiple HRBs, with completion indicators and export packages ready for the BSR portal. Threadsovereign implements all 16 SI 2023/396 categories with deadline tracking on every paid plan.

Conclusion

Complete, current KBI is foundational occupied-phase compliance. Pair it with a living safety case and occurrence reporting so the regulator sees a coherent picture of the building. See threadsovereign.co.uk/faq for KBI and safety case questions, or start a trial at threadsovereign.io/onboarding.

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Cochise Derrick

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.

support@threadsovereign.co.uk

Areas of focus

Building Safety Act 2022Golden Thread ComplianceGateway SubmissionsPrincipal Designer DutiesHRB RegulationsGovernment digital services

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