2. Safety case report: form and content
Legislation regarding safety case reports is still in development, so the following information is a summary. This may be subject to change. There will be a consultation on the form and content of safety case reports during summer 2022. Sign up to the Building safety e-bulletin for more information.
Further information will be published in due course, but the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) will not be providing a template for safety case reports.
Structuring your report
The safety case report is not simply a list of all the information that makes up the safety case for the building.
The report should provide a summary of the information gathered and assessed. Links or references should be provided to the detailed information in the safety case.
The report should explain how the information demonstrates that all reasonable steps have been taken, showing a clear link between controls and identified risks.
The legislation deals with ongoing management of building safety risks. The risks in an occupied building differ from those of a newly constructed building, and risks may change over time.
What to include
You will need to use a lot of information from your safety case to back up the claims and arguments you make in your safety case report. That will form part of your building's golden thread of information. You should read the section 'The new framework' on the Building Safety Regulator page for more details. You will not need to provide all these documents with your report. However, BSR may ask for specific additional information as part of its assessment process.
Provide some means of identifying the detail that sits behind the safety case report. This could be:
- references in the report
- a list of further information
- links to specific documents or the system holding the information
The following pages will help you write your safety case report, but it is not a prescribed template. If you have other information relevant to demonstrating the management of building safety risks in a specific building, it may be appropriate to include it.
What a safety case report is not
A safety case report is not:
- a collection of individual reports, compiled without narrative, reference or context
- just a fire risk assessment (although this will form part of a safety case) and nothing else
- a 'one-off' exercise
- a standardised document containing generic information
- an overly technical or complex document
- a set of unsupported claims of safety without evidence
- a 'copy and paste' from another building’s safety case. While some features may be common, the hazards and risks may be unique and need to be considered separately
- an administrative hurdle to solely satisfy the regulator and residents, and then be put on a shelf