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.”
The 16 categories (SI 2023/396 regs 3–18)
Regulation 2 defines Key Building Information as the information in regulations 3 to 18. Below is the full category list Accountable Persons must be able to complete — each with a named owner, evidence link, and completion status. The expanded reference guide is at threadsovereign.co.uk/key-building-information.
- reg.3 — Ancillary building (and whether it is itself an HRB)
- reg.4 — Principal use (HRB and related structures)
- reg.5 — Subordinate use
- reg.6 — Whether principal use has changed since construction
- reg.7 — Use described via Approved Document B categories
- reg.8 — External wall materials
- reg.9 — External wall insulation
- reg.10 — Roof
- reg.11 — Fixtures on external wall or roof
- reg.12 — Structure
- reg.13 — Storeys below ground
- reg.14 — Staircases (count and continuity from ground)
- reg.15 — Energy supply
- reg.16 — Energy storage
- reg.17 — Evacuation strategy type
- reg.18 — Fire and smoke control equipment and locations
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.
KBI and Building Assessment Certificates are related but distinct: KBI is submitted around registration (SI 2023/396); a BAC is a later, separate BSR assessment when the regulator directs the PAP — see threadsovereign.co.uk/blog/bac-application-guide.
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. Full category table and sources: threadsovereign.co.uk/key-building-information. FAQ and trial: threadsovereign.co.uk/faq · threadsovereign.io/onboarding.
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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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