For developers, contractors, designers and building owners in England, the defined legal obligations that sit alongside existing regulatory requirements have changed and expanded under legislation in the last five years. Understanding these dutyholder responsibilities under building regulations is no longer simply a matter of good governance; it is a statutory necessity.
Summary
This article covers:
- Who Building Safety Act dutyholders are and why they matter
- The legal duties of Clients, Principal Designers and Principal Contractors
- The occupation-stage role of the Accountable Person
- How the Building Safety Act interacts with CDM Regulations
- Practical compliance steps and enforcement risks
Core Duties of Dutyholders
In construction legislation, dutyholders are expected to:
- Make sure all designs meet building regulations
- Make sure no designs introduce unnecessary risks
- Ensure construction work happens safely, in line with Building Regulations
- Maintain accurate records and conduct robust handovers
- Demonstrate competence in their role
- Ensure those they appoint are also competent
- Identify and manage safety risks throughout the project
Failure to comply with these duties can result in enforcement
What Are Dutyholders in Construction Law Today?
Dutyholders in construction legislation are persons or organisations legally responsible for managing and controlling building safety risks at specific stages of a project or during occupation. First formalised under the Building Regulations 2010 and amendments in 2023, as well as the Building Safety Act 2022.
For clients, principal designers and principal contractors, the legal duties are mainly listed in the Building Regulations 2010, 2023.
The Building Safety Act formalises roles across both the design and construction phase, and, in some cases, during the occupation phase. These responsibilities are imposed by statute and are enforceable by the Building Safety Regulator.
The Building Safety Act dutyholders include those who commission work, design buildings, construct them, and in certain cases, those who manage them once occupied. Each role carries defined obligations linked to competence, coordination, information management and risk control.
Importantly, the act is structured to eliminate ambiguity. Responsibility must be clearly allocated, properly discharged, and capable of being evidenced.
In practice, this means that organisations must not only understand their own role, but also how their duties interact with others within the wider dutyholder framework and responsibilities established by the Act.
Background: The Building Safety Act and Dutyholders
The introduction of formal Building Safety Act dutyholders was a direct response to systemic weaknesses identified in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, led by Dame Judith Hackitt, concluded that the previous system suffered from fragmented responsibility, unclear accountability and insufficient oversight. In many cases, multiple parties were involved in design and construction, yet no single entity held clearly traceable responsibility for building safety outcomes.
The Building Safety Act 2022 was designed to address that gap. One of its central objectives is to ensure that accountability for building safety risks is clearly defined at every stage of a building’s lifecycle, from the initial design through construction and, for higher-risk buildings, during occupation.
While the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM) already impose duties relating to health and safety, the Building Safety Act introduces rules specific to building safety, embedded within the building control framework. The two sets of rules overlap in places, but they are not identical. The Building Safety Act places greater emphasis on:
- Competence of those appointed
- Structured information management
- Regulatory gateways for higher-risk buildings
- Ongoing safety case management during occupation
In practical terms, the Act seeks to eliminate the historic problem of “diffused responsibility.” The new dutyholder framework and responsibilities model makes clear that:
- Someone must be appointed
- That person must be competent
- Their responsibilities must be actively managed
- Compliance must be demonstrable
For organisations operating in development, design, construction or building management, this represents a shift from reactive compliance to proactive accountability.
Who Is a Dutyholder Under the Act?
The Building Safety Act establishes specific dutyholders at different stages of a building’s lifecycle. Some apply during design and construction. Others apply once a higher-risk building is occupied.
Understanding which role applies, and when, is essential to interpreting dutyholder responsibilities building regulations correctly.
Client
The Client is the person or organisation for whom the building work is carried out.
This will typically be a developer, building owner or commercial entity commissioning works. It may be a public sector organisation, such as the NHS or a local authority, for example when works involve social housing.
The Client holds primary responsibility for ensuring that appropriate dutyholders are appointed and that sufficient time and resources are allocated to manage building safety risks.
Under the Building Safety Act, the Client cannot simply delegate responsibility and disengage. They must take reasonable steps to ensure that those they appoint are competent and properly resourced.
Principal Designer
The Principal Designer is appointed by the Client where there is more than one contractor involved in the project.
Their role is to plan, manage and monitor the design work so that building safety risks are identified and controlled during the pre-construction phase. This includes coordinating designers and ensuring compliance with building regulations requirements relevant to safety.
Although similar in title to the CDM Principal Designer, the role under the Building Safety Act is specifically focused on building regulation compliance and safety risk management.
Principal Contractor
The Principal Contractor is appointed by the Client to plan, manage and monitor the construction phase.
Their responsibility is to ensure that building work complies with applicable building regulations and that safety risks are managed during construction. They must coordinate contractors, implement appropriate systems, and maintain compliance evidence.
Again, while there are similarities with CDM duties, the emphasis under the Building Safety Act is on regulatory compliance within the building control framework.
Accountable Person
For higher-risk residential buildings, the Act introduces an additional role: the Accountable Person.
An Accountable Person is typically the building owner, landlord or management entity responsible for the structure and common parts of a higher-risk building during occupation.
Their statutory obligations include:
- Registering the building with the Building Safety Regulator
- Assessing and managing building safety risks
- Preparing and maintaining a safety case
- Ensuring ongoing compliance with the building safety regime
Where there is more than one Accountable Person, a Principal Accountable Person must be identified. This individual or entity has overarching responsibility for ensuring the building is registered and that safety obligations are coordinated effectively.
This occupation-phase role represents one of the most significant structural changes introduced by the Act. It extends accountability beyond project completion and embeds continuous safety management into the operational life of higher-risk buildings.
Building Safety Act Dutyholder Duties & Responsibilities
Client Duties
Under the Building Safety Act, the Client holds foundational responsibility within the dutyholder framework. The Act places clear obligations on the Client to ensure that building work is organised and managed in a way that secures compliance with building regulations. This is not a passive role. The Client must actively discharge their statutory duties.
Appointment of Competent Dutyholders
The Client must appoint a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor where required. Crucially, they must take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that those appointed:
- Have the necessary competence
- Possess the appropriate organisational capability
- Have adequate resources to fulfil their role
This reflects a core objective of the dutyholders rules laid out in the Building Safety Act: competence is no longer assumed; rather, it must be demonstrable.
Allocation of Time and Resources
The Client must ensure that sufficient time and financial resources are allocated to allow dutyholders to comply with building regulations.
Compressed programmes or under-resourced projects will not excuse regulatory non-compliance. The statutory expectation is that safety considerations are embedded at procurement and planning stages, not addressed retrospectively.
Ensuring Regulatory Compliance
While the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor manage day-to-day compliance during design and construction, the Client retains overarching responsibility for ensuring that the project complies with applicable building regulations.
This includes engagement with the building control process and, where relevant, the higher-risk building gateway rules, overseen by the Building Safety Regulator. We recommend keeping robust records of all steps taken to ensure compliance, such as overseeing construction, feedback on designs, and handover records.
Cooperation and Information
The Client must oversee and cooperate with other dutyholders and provide relevant information necessary for compliance. This includes ensuring that pre-construction information is available and that accurate information is handed over at completion.
For higher-risk buildings, this forms part of the “golden thread” of information: a structured approach to safety-critical documentation that must be maintained throughout the building’s lifecycle.
From a risk perspective, the Client’s duties are particularly significant. They sit at the apex of responsibility and set the tone for compliance. Failure to discharge these obligations can expose the organisation to enforcement action by the Building Safety Regulator.
Principal Designer Duties
The Principal Designer plays a central role in managing building safety risks during the pre-construction phase. Under the Building Safety Act, their responsibilities extend beyond design coordination; they are specifically tasked with ensuring compliance with building regulations as they relate to safety.
Although the title mirrors that used under the CDM Regulations, the Building Safety Act dutyholder responsibilities for a Principal Designer are distinct in focus. The emphasis is on regulatory compliance and the control of building safety risks, rather than general construction health and safety.
Planning, Managing and Monitoring Design Work
The Principal Designer must plan, manage and monitor the design phase so that building work, if constructed in accordance with the design, will comply with applicable building regulations.
This requires:
- Coordinating designers
- Identifying and addressing building safety risks
- Ensuring that design decisions do not create foreseeable compliance failures
- Maintaining clear records of compliance considerations
Where design changes occur, the Principal Designer must ensure that safety implications are properly assessed and documented.
Coordination of Designers
On projects involving multiple designers, the Principal Designer must coordinate their work to ensure consistency and regulatory alignment. This is particularly significant on complex or higher-risk schemes, where multiple disciplines contribute to safety-critical elements.
Failure to properly coordinate design responsibilities may lead to non-compliance at gateway stages or during regulatory review.
Compliance Declarations
For higher-risk buildings, the Principal Designer is required to make formal compliance declarations at specified gateway points. These declarations confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, the design complies with building regulations.
This introduces a clear evidential burden. The role requires robust internal processes to demonstrate how compliance has been assessed and verified.
Cooperation and Information Management
The Principal Designer must cooperate with the Client, Principal Contractor and other dutyholders. They must also ensure that relevant information is passed forward, contributing to the “golden thread” of building safety information.
The quality of this information is critical. Incomplete or inaccurate records can undermine compliance and expose dutyholders to enforcement risk.
In practical terms, the Principal Designer’s responsibilities under the Building Safety Act require a structured approach to design governance. Informal coordination or reliance on historic practice is unlikely to satisfy regulatory scrutiny.
Principal Contractor Duties
The Principal Contractor is responsible for managing building safety risks during the construction phase and ensuring that the works are carried out in compliance with applicable building regulations.
Under the Building Safety Act, the Principal Contractor’s duties form a critical part of the overall dutyholder framework and responsibilities model. While the role shares similarities with its CDM equivalent, its focus under the Act is firmly rooted in regulatory compliance rather than general site safety.
Planning, Managing and Monitoring Construction Work
The Principal Contractor must plan, manage and monitor the construction phase so that building work complies with building regulations.
This requires implementing systems and controls to ensure that:
- Construction aligns with the approved design
- Safety-critical elements are installed correctly
- Materials and methods meet regulatory requirements
- Variations are assessed for compliance impact
Where deviations from design occur, the Principal Contractor must ensure that appropriate review and approval processes are followed.
Coordination of Contractors
On projects involving multiple contractors, the Principal Contractor must coordinate their activities to prevent regulatory breaches.
This includes ensuring that subcontractors understand the building regulation implications of their work and that appropriate supervision and quality assurance measures are in place.
Given the increased regulatory oversight for higher-risk buildings – including gateway approval processes – construction-phase governance must be demonstrable and robust.
Compliance Declarations
For higher-risk buildings, the Principal Contractor is required to provide a formal declaration confirming that the building work complies with building regulations.
As with the Principal Designer, this declaration carries evidential weight. It must be supported by appropriate records, inspections and quality assurance documentation.
Cooperation and Information Handover
The Principal Contractor must cooperate with the Client, Principal Designer and other dutyholders. At completion, they must ensure that relevant information is provided to support the golden thread of safety information.
This may include:
- As-built information
- Specifications
- Installation records
- Compliance documentation
Incomplete or poorly structured handover information can undermine occupation-stage compliance and expose multiple dutyholders to risk.
From a practical standpoint, the Principal Contractor’s responsibilities under the Building Safety Act require construction-phase processes that integrate regulatory compliance into programme management and quality assurance.
Accountable Person Duties
For higher-risk residential buildings, the Building Safety Act introduces an occupation-phase dutyholder: the Accountable Person. This role extends the dutyholder framework and responsibilities beyond project completion. It embeds ongoing accountability into the operational life of a building.
An Accountable Person is typically the entity that owns or has legal responsibility for the structure and common parts of a higher-risk building. In many cases, this will be a freeholder, head leaseholder or management company.
Where more than one Accountable Person exists, a Principal Accountable Person must be identified. The Principal Accountable Person has overarching responsibility for registering the building and ensuring that statutory duties are properly coordinated.
Registration of Higher-Risk Buildings
The Principal Accountable Person must register the higher-risk building with the Building Safety Regulator before occupation (or within prescribed timeframes for existing buildings).
Failure to register is a criminal offence. Registration is not a procedural formality; it is a gateway requirement forming part of the Act’s oversight regulations.
Assessment and Management of Building Safety Risks
The Accountable Person must identify and manage building safety risks relating to the spread of fire and structural failure.
They must take all reasonable steps to prevent such risks materialising and to mitigate their impact if they do. This is an ongoing obligation. It is not satisfied by a one-off assessment at completion.
The Safety Case and Safety Case Report
A core component of the occupation phase duty is the requirement to prepare and maintain a safety case.
The safety case must demonstrate how building safety risks are being identified, assessed and controlled. A safety case report must be submitted to the Building Safety Regulator when required.
This evidential burden reflects the Act’s shift toward demonstrable compliance. It is not enough to manage risks informally; the Accountable Person must be able to prove how those risks are being managed.
Maintaining the Golden Thread of Information
The Accountable Person must ensure that relevant building safety information is kept accurate, up to date and accessible. This forms part of the golden thread concept: a structured record of safety-critical information maintained throughout the building’s lifecycle.
Information failures were a central concern of the Hackitt Review. The Act therefore places clear responsibility for information integrity on the occupation-phase dutyholder.
Resident Engagement and Mandatory Reporting
The Act also requires mechanisms for resident engagement and mandatory occurrence reporting. The Accountable Person must establish a system for residents to raise safety concerns and must report certain safety incidents to the regulator.
This reinforces the principle that building safety is not solely a construction-phase issue; it is a continuous management obligation.
In practical terms, the Accountable Person role represents a significant governance shift for building owners and managing entities. It introduces ongoing statutory obligations that require structured risk management, documentation and regulatory engagement.
Failure to discharge these responsibilities may result in enforcement action by the Building Safety Regulator, including compliance notices, criminal liability and reputational harm.
How Dutyholder Duties Interact with the CDM Regulations (Overlap & Differences)
A common source of confusion is the relationship between the Building Safety Act dutyholders and those appointed under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM).
While the titles Client, Principal Designer and Principal Contractor appear in both regulations, the duties are not identical. Understanding the distinction is essential to properly discharging dutyholder responsibilities under the Building Regulations.
Areas of Overlap
There are clear structural similarities between the two laws:
- Both impose duties on Clients, Principal Designers and Principal Contractors
- Both require competence and organisational capability
- Both emphasise coordination and cooperation between parties
- Both place responsibility on Clients to appoint appropriate dutyholders
From a governance perspective, organisations may find that existing CDM systems provide a useful foundation for compliance under the Building Safety Act. However, that foundation is not sufficient on its own.
Key Differences
The principal difference lies in regulatory focus. CDM is concerned with managing health and safety risks arising from construction work, protecting workers and others during the construction process.
The Building Safety Act, by contrast, is concerned with ensuring compliance with building regulations and the management of building safety risks – particularly fire and structural risks – both during construction and, for higher-risk buildings, during occupation.
Other important distinctions include:
- Regulatory oversight: Higher-risk buildings are subject to gateway approvals and supervision by the Building Safety Regulator.
- Compliance declarations: Formal statements of compliance are required from the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.
- Occupation-phase duties: The Accountable Person role has no equivalent under CDM.
- Golden thread requirements: Structured information management is more formally embedded within the Building Safety Act.
In short, CDM addresses how work is carried out safely during construction. The Building Safety Act addresses whether the building itself meets regulatory safety standards and continues to do so over time.
Practical Implications
For many organisations, the practical challenge lies in avoiding duplication while ensuring that neither legislation is treated as subsumed within the other.
A Principal Designer under CDM cannot assume that fulfilling CDM duties automatically satisfies their responsibilities under the Building Safety Act. The statutory tests are distinct.
Similarly, Clients must ensure that appointments and contractual documentation clearly reflect both. Failure to recognise the distinction may expose dutyholders to regulatory enforcement or professional liability.
The safest approach is to treat the Building Safety Act as an additional layer of structured regulatory accountability, integrated alongside – but not replaced by – CDM compliance processes.
Practical Steps for Meeting Dutyholder Responsibilities
Understanding the legal structure of Building Safety Act dutyholders is only the starting point. Compliance depends on embedding those responsibilities into project governance, documentation and decision-making processes.
The following practical steps are central to managing dutyholder responsibilities building regulations effectively.
Clear Appointment and Competence Assessment
Before work begins, Clients must ensure that:
- A Principal Designer and Principal Contractor are formally appointed where required
- Appointments clearly reference Building Safety Act responsibilities
- Competence and organisational capability are assessed and documented
Competence should not be assumed based on past working relationships. The Act requires reasonable steps to be taken to verify capability.
The contractual documentation should also reflect the statutory allocation of responsibility and align with procurement structures.
Structured Information Management
The golden thread principle requires safety-critical information to be:
- Accurate
- Up to date
- Accessible
- Secure
This applies throughout the design, construction and (for higher-risk buildings) occupation.
Organisations should implement clear document control systems, version management procedures and defined information handover protocols. Poor information governance is one of the most common areas of compliance weakness.
Gateway Planning for Higher-Risk Buildings
For higher-risk buildings, projects must pass through formal gateway approval stages overseen by the Building Safety Regulator. This requires early planning.
Design development, compliance evidence and supporting documentation must be sufficiently mature before submissions are made. Programme planning should account for regulator review timelines, as gateway delays can have significant commercial implications.
Compliance Declarations and Evidence Trails
Principal Designers and Principal Contractors must provide formal compliance declarations at prescribed stages. These declarations must be supported by an evidential audit trail.
Practical measures may include:
- Structured design review processes
- Compliance checklists linked to building regulations
- Internal approval gateways
- Independent technical review where appropriate
Without demonstrable evidence, compliance declarations may expose individuals and organisations to risk.
Safety Case Preparation and Ongoing Management
For higher-risk buildings, Accountable Persons must prepare and maintain a safety case. This should not be treated as a static document produced for regulatory submission. It is an ongoing risk management tool requiring:
- Regular review
- Incident reporting processes
- Resident engagement mechanisms
- Periodic reassessment of safety controls
Governance structures must reflect that building safety is a continuous obligation.
Collaboration Across Dutyholders
The dutyholder framework and responsibilities model depends on effective cooperation. Clients, Principal Designers, Principal Contractors and Accountable Persons must exchange relevant information and coordinate risk management.
Fragmented communication undermines compliance. Clear reporting lines, defined meeting structures and documented decision-making processes are increasingly essential.
In practice, organisations that approach Building Safety Act compliance as a structured governance exercise – rather than a reactive regulatory burden – are better positioned to manage both legal and commercial risk.
Enforcement, Penalties & Legal Risks
The Building Safety Act is supported by enhanced enforcement powers and a strengthened regulatory framework. The introduction of defined Building Safety Act dutyholders is not symbolic; the obligations are enforceable and carry meaningful consequences. Understanding the potential legal exposure is an essential part of managing dutyholder responsibilities building regulations.
Building Safety Regulator Powers
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR), operating within the Health and Safety Executive, has wide-ranging oversight powers in relation to higher-risk buildings. These include the ability to:
- Refuse gateway approvals
- Issue compliance notices
- Issue stop notices
- Require remedial action
- Investigate suspected breaches
In serious cases, the regulator may prosecute individuals and organisations for non-compliance.
Criminal Liability
Certain breaches under the Building Safety Act constitute criminal offences. For example:
- Failure to register a higher-risk building
- Providing false or misleading information
- Failing to comply with compliance or stop notices
Criminal liability may attach not only to corporate entities but, in some circumstances, to individuals where offences are committed with consent, connivance or neglect. This reflects the Act’s emphasis on accountability at the decision-making level.
Civil and Commercial Risk
Beyond regulatory sanctions, failure to discharge dutyholder responsibilities may expose organisations to professional negligence claims, contractual disputes, reputational damage, or funding and insurance complications.
Increasingly, investors, funders and insurers are scrutinising building safety governance structures. Inadequate compliance processes may have commercial consequences well beyond regulatory enforcement.
Interaction With Other Regulations
The Building Safety Act operates alongside:
- Building Regulations
- CDM Regulations
- Fire safety legislation
- Landlord and tenant law
Non-compliance in one area may trigger scrutiny in others. Dutyholders should therefore approach compliance holistically rather than treating rules in isolation. Organisations that fail to adapt their governance models accordingly may face significant legal and commercial risk.
Common Misconceptions About Dutyholders
Despite the increasing focus on the Building Safety Act, there remains significant uncertainty around how the dutyholder framework and responsibilities operate in practice. The following misconceptions frequently arise.
“The Building Safety Act dutyholders are the same as CDM dutyholders.”
While the roles of Client, Principal Designer and Principal Contractor appear in both, the duties are not interchangeable.
CDM focuses on managing health and safety risks arising from construction work. The Building Safety Act focuses on compliance with building regulations and the management of building safety risks, particularly fire and structural risks.
Discharging CDM duties alone will not necessarily satisfy dutyholder responsibilities under the Building Safety Act.
“Dutyholder duties only apply to high-rise residential buildings.”
The occupation-stage role of Accountable Person applies specifically to higher-risk residential buildings. However, the design and construction dutyholder duties apply more broadly to building work subject to building regulations. It is therefore incorrect to assume that projects falling outside the higher-risk building category are unaffected by the Act.
“Once the building is complete, the responsibility ends.”
For higher-risk buildings, responsibility continues into occupation through the Principle Accountable Person. The Act deliberately extends accountability beyond practical completion. Building safety risk management is now an ongoing statutory obligation.
“Appointing a Principal Designer transfers responsibility.”
While the Principal Designer and Principal Contractor hold defined statutory duties, the Client retains overarching responsibility for ensuring appropriate appointments are made and that sufficient time and resources are allocated. The Client cannot fully divest itself of responsibility through contractual delegation.
“The safety case is simply another compliance document.”
The safety case is not a one-off report prepared to satisfy a procedural requirement. It is a live demonstration of how building safety risks are being managed on an ongoing basis. Treating it as an administrative formality risks regulatory intervention.
Clarity around these issues is essential. Misinterpretation of the duty can lead to governance gaps, compliance failures and unnecessary legal exposure.
Checklist: Are You Meeting Your Dutyholder Responsibilities?
The dutyholder framework and responsibilities introduced by the Building Safety Act require structured governance, clear appointments and demonstrable compliance. Organisations should regularly assess whether their processes align with statutory expectations. The following checklist provides a practical starting point.
Governance & Appointments
- Have you clearly identified whether you are a Client, Principal Designer, Principal Contractor or Accountable Person under the Act?
- Are dutyholder appointments formally documented and aligned with Building Safety Act requirements?
- Have you assessed and recorded the competence and organisational capability of those appointed?
Regulatory Compliance (Design & Construction Phase)
- Are building regulation compliance processes embedded into design reviews and construction management?
- Are compliance declarations supported by documented evidence?
- Is there a structured audit trail demonstrating how safety risks have been assessed and controlled?
Higher-Risk Buildings (Where Applicable)
- Has the building been properly registered with the Building Safety Regulator?
- Is a current and robust safety case in place?
- Are safety case reviews carried out on a regular basis?
- Is the golden thread of safety information accurate, up to date and accessible?
Ongoing Risk Management
- Are residents provided with a mechanism to raise safety concerns?
- Is there a mandatory occurrence reporting process in place?
- Are governance structures clearly defined for managing ongoing building safety risks?
If any of these questions cannot be answered confidently, it may indicate a compliance gap. Given the enhanced enforcement powers under the Act, proactively reviewing dutyholder responsibilities is increasingly prudent.
Why Dutyholders Matter in Modern Building Safety
The introduction of clearly defined Building Safety Act dutyholders represents a fundamental shift in how building safety is regulated in the UK.
The dutyholder framework and responsibilities model is designed to eliminate ambiguity. Accountability must be allocated, competence must be demonstrated, and compliance must be evidenced.
For Clients, Principal Designers and Principal Contractors, this requires a structured approach to governance during design and construction. For Accountable Persons, it introduces ongoing statutory obligations that extend far beyond project completion.
The consequences of non-compliance are significant – not only in terms of regulatory enforcement, but also professional liability, reputational exposure and commercial risk. Organisations that treat dutyholder responsibilities building regulations as a core governance issue – rather than a procedural requirement – are better positioned to manage risk and maintain regulatory confidence.
If you are uncertain about your role under the Building Safety Act, require support reviewing compliance structures, or face regulatory scrutiny, Witan’s construction law team can provide clear, commercially focused advice. To discuss your specific circumstances, please contact our team.
