Core concepts
Safety case, safety case report and golden thread
The safety case is the full, structured body of evidence about the building, hazards, risk assessments, controls and management. The safety case report is the principal accountable person’s concise, reasoned account of how building-safety risks are being managed.
The golden thread is the controlled digital information needed to understand the building and keep it safe. It includes more than the report and must be kept current, available and capable of being shared with authorised people.
Safety case
The evidence base and ongoing risk-management process.
Safety case report
The structured argument and summary submitted to BSR when required.
Golden thread
Accurate, current and accessible building information.
Building assessment certificate
The BSR-led assessment process for specified statutory duties and information.
Report structure
What should the safety case report contain?
The report should identify the building, people responsible, construction and condition, building work and remediation, fire-safety measures, structural and fire risk assessments, emergency arrangements and the safety management system.
It should explain why controls are suitable and how outstanding actions are prioritised, monitored and verified. References should point to the supporting evidence without turning the report into an unstructured file index.
- Basic building, plans, uses and resident profile
- AP/PAP responsibilities and control boundaries
- Construction, refurbishment, external-wall and structural information
- Fire and structural risk assessments
- Prevention, protection and emergency measures
- Actions, interim controls and completion evidence
- Safety management, review and continuous improvement
Suitable and sufficient
Turn evidence into a clear risk argument
A good report links hazard, possible major incident, people affected, preventive measures, consequence-reduction measures and evidence of performance. It should address uncertainty and gaps honestly.
Simply attaching an FRA, structural survey and maintenance schedule does not explain how they work together. Conflicting evacuation strategies, outdated drawings or unverified remedial actions need resolution, not concealment.
| Question | Evidence the report should address |
|---|---|
| What could happen? | Credible fire-spread and structural-failure scenarios. |
| How is it prevented? | Design, maintenance, management and change controls. |
| How are consequences reduced? | Compartmentation, systems, emergency arrangements and response. |
| How do you know controls work? | Inspection, testing, monitoring, occurrence and action records. |
| What remains uncertain? | Information gaps, assumptions, interim controls and investigation plans. |
Connected duties
Resident engagement and mandatory occurrence reporting
The PAP must prepare a building-specific resident engagement strategy and operate a complaints system. Residents should receive prescribed safety information and be consulted on relevant building-safety decisions in a way that reflects their needs.
The PAP must also operate a mandatory occurrence reporting system. A qualifying safety occurrence requires a notice as soon as possible and a report to BSR within 10 calendar days of identification. Occurrences and learning should feed back into the safety case report.
- Align the resident profile across relevant records
- Keep a clear route for complaints and safety concerns
- Train people to recognise reportable occurrences
- Record investigation, corrective action and learning
- Revise risk assessments and the report when evidence changes
BSR assessment
Building assessment certificates and current BSR approach
The PAP must apply for a building assessment certificate when BSR directs it to do so and provide the required safety case report, resident engagement strategy and prescribed information. A certificate does not end the ongoing management duties.
In July 2026 BSR announced that its assessment approach would become more proportionate and targeted. PAPs were expressly told not to wait for an assessment before preparing safety case reports or operating mandatory reporting and resident-engagement systems.