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Under section 73 of the Building Safety Act 2022, a higher-risk building with one accountable person (AP) has that AP as its principal accountable person (PAP). If there is more than one AP, the PAP is the AP with the legal estate in possession in the relevant parts of the building’s structure and exterior, or the AP with the relevant repairing obligation for those parts. If two or more APs meet that test, an interested person can ask the First-tier Tribunal to decide which one is the PAP.
The PAP is often an organisation rather than an individual. Ownership of, or legally enforceible repairing responsibility for, the common parts matters more than a job title, rent-collection role or property-management contract.
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What the principal accountable person means
The Building Safety Act creates two related roles for certain higher-risk residential buildings in England: the accountable person and the principal accountable person. The AP is responsible for the parts of the building’s common parts that fall within that person’s legal ownership or repairing responsibility. The PAP is the single AP selected under the additional test in section 73 to coordinate safety responsibilities for the building as a whole.
The relevant Building Safety Regulator (BSR) guidance applies to England. It describes the relevant high-rise residential building as one with at least seven storeys or a height of at least 18 metres, and at least two residential units. The building must be registered with the BSR before people live there. Those criteria and procedures should not be treated as a complete statement of the law in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland; check the rules for the jurisdiction in which the building stands.
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Who can be an accountable person?
Section 72 generally identifies an AP as either:
- a person who holds a legal estate in possession in any part of the building’s common parts; or
- a person who does not hold that legal estate but has a relevant repairing obligation for any part of the common parts.
The legal arrangement may make the AP a freeholder, estate owner, landlord, management company, resident management company, right to manage company or commonhold association. An individual can also be an AP in an appropriate ownership or lease arrangement. The entity’s legal interest and enforceable obligations determine the role; the name used in a management structure does not.
“Common parts” are important in applying the test. They can include shared structure, exterior elements, circulation spaces and other areas serving more than one dwelling. A lease, transfer, commonhold documentation and repairing covenant may divide responsibility between several APs.
How section 73 identifies the PAP
Use the following sequence when identifying the PAP:
- Map the building’s legal interests. Review registered titles, leases, transfers, commonhold documents and other instruments to identify who holds a legal estate in possession in the common parts and who has a relevant repairing obligation without holding that estate.
- List every AP. Record the parts for which each person is an AP and the legal basis for that status. A single building can have several APs with different areas of responsibility.
- Check whether there is only one AP. If there is only one AP for the building, that person is the PAP under section 73.
- Apply the structure-and-exterior test where there are several APs. Identify the AP who holds a legal estate in possession in the relevant parts of the building’s structure and exterior, or who has the relevant repairing obligation for those parts.
- Escalate an unresolved overlap. If more than one AP appears to satisfy the section 73 test, or the legal position cannot be established confidently, an interested person may apply to the First-tier Tribunal. The tribunal can determine which qualifying AP is the PAP.
This is a legal allocation exercise, not a performance comparison between managing agents. The question is who has the statutory interest or obligation in the relevant structure and exterior.
Important limits in the statutory test
Parts inside a private demise
Section 73 excludes from the relevant structure-and-exterior test parts included in the demise of a single dwelling or business premises. A room, shop or other area demised exclusively to one occupier may therefore fall outside the part used to identify the PAP, even though it is physically within the building. The precise lease wording and boundaries matter.
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Rent collection is not possession
The Act states that “possession” does not include merely receiving rent or having the right to receive rent. A person cannot establish PAP status simply by collecting rents. Evidence of the legal estate and repairing obligations is required.
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A person without the legal estate may still be an AP if a lease or other legally effective arrangement gives that person a relevant obligation to repair a common part. The obligation must relate to the part in question; a general management function is not automatically enough.
Examples of who may, or may not, be the PAP
| Candidate | Relevant legal position | Likely result |
|---|---|---|
| Freeholder or estate owner | Owns the common parts and the structure and exterior in possession | May be the PAP where it is the sole AP, or where it meets the section 73 test among several APs |
| Landlord | Holds the relevant legal estate or a repairing obligation under leases | May be an AP and may be the PAP if its interest covers the relevant structure and exterior |
| Resident management or right to manage company | Has the legal interest or repairing responsibility assigned by the leases or transfer | May be an AP or PAP; the corporate label alone does not decide the issue |
| Commonhold association | Responsible for commonhold common parts under the commonhold structure | May be the AP and, if it is the sole AP or satisfies section 73, the PAP |
| Management company with a repairing lease covenant | Operates under a lease that legally obliges it to repair or maintain common parts | Can itself be an AP for those parts and may be the PAP if it meets the structure-and-exterior test |
| Managing agent under a service contract only | Provides maintenance or administration for another entity but does not hold the relevant estate or obligation | Not automatically an AP or PAP |
| Rent collector | Receives rent or has a right to receive rent without the relevant possession | Rent collection alone does not establish PAP status |
Why identifying the PAP matters
Each AP must assess and manage the risks of fire spreading and structural failure in the parts for which that AP is responsible. The PAP has additional building-wide coordination duties. Under current BSR guidance, the PAP must:
- ensure that the building is registered with the BSR;
- ensure that building safety risks are properly managed across the whole building;
- prepare and keep up to date the building’s safety case report;
- operate mandatory occurrence reporting and a complaints system;
- prepare and update a resident engagement strategy; and
- apply for a building assessment certificate when directed by the BSR.
Where several APs exist, the PAP must check that each AP has identified and assessed fire and structural risks in its parts, taken steps to prevent incidents and put measures in place to reduce the severity of an incident. The PAP’s role therefore involves coordination and assurance, not just responsibility for one block of wall, roof or plant room.
What happens when there are multiple APs?
Multiple APs must cooperate and share safety information about the building. Their boundaries should be documented so that no structure, exterior element or common part is left without a clearly identified responsible person. Information sharing may include risk assessments, inspection findings, planned works, defects, control measures, incident information and records needed for the building’s safety case.
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The PAP remains the single coordinating AP even when other APs retain direct duties for their own parts. One AP’s failure to provide information does not remove the PAP’s responsibility to coordinate; it should be recorded and addressed through the building’s management arrangements and, where necessary, engagement with the BSR.
Managing agents, nominated contacts and delegation
A managing agent is not automatically transformed into the PAP by carrying out inspections, arranging contractors or administering a service charge. If the agent has no relevant legal estate and no legally enforceible repairing obligation, it is normally acting on behalf of an AP rather than replacing that AP.
If the PAP is an organisation, it may designate a single point of contact for dealings with the BSR. A management company or another third party may act as that contact with the organisation’s written consent. The appointment changes who communicates day to day; it does not change who is the PAP.
APs and PAPs may employ staff, consultants, contractors or specialist organisations to help perform their duties. They cannot delegate the legal obligations themselves. The AP or PAP must ensure that the work is performed properly and remains accountable for building safety and any resulting liability.
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Competence and specialist support
Organisations responsible for higher-risk buildings need appropriate competence to discharge their functions. The BSR guidance identifies PAS 8673 as a recommended benchmark for safety-management competence in residential buildings. PAS 8673, or another competence standard, is not a guarantee that every statutory duty has been met. The organisation must still ensure that its people and appointed specialists have the knowledge, skills, experience and behaviours relevant to the building and the work being undertaken.
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Competence training or professional support can help an AP or PAP establish legal responsibility, structure risk-management systems, prepare records and coordinate information. Hiring that support does not transfer the statutory role. The appointing organisation should define the scope of work, retain oversight and keep evidence of decisions and checks.
Resolving uncertainty or a dispute
Disagreements commonly arise where leases divide the structure and exterior, a management company has unusual repairing covenants, or several entities claim responsibility for the same part. Start by assembling the documents that create the legal interests and obligations:
- Land Registry title information and transfers;
- headleases, underleases and assignments;
- repairing, maintenance and insurance covenants;
- plans defining demised premises and common parts;
- commonhold declarations or estate-management documents; and
- management agreements, considered separately from the underlying legal obligations.
Then prepare a responsibility schedule showing each common part, the person with the legal estate or repairing obligation, and the evidence for that conclusion. If two or more APs still meet the section 73 test, an interested person can apply to the First-tier Tribunal under the section 75 mechanism for a determination of the PAP. The tribunal route is particularly relevant where the parties cannot agree which qualifying AP should hold the coordinating role.
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- Confirm that the building falls within the England higher-risk regime described by the BSR guidance, including the storey or height and residential-unit criteria.
- Identify every common part and mark areas demised exclusively to a dwelling or business premises.
- Trace the legal estate in each common part and read every repairing obligation that could apply.
- Separate ownership and enforceable repair duties from rent collection, contractor appointments and service contracts.
- Record the AP for each relevant part and test which AP has the structure-and-exterior interest required by section 73.
- Document the PAP decision, notify the relevant parties and establish cooperation and information-sharing arrangements.
- Set up the PAP’s registration, safety-case, occurrence-reporting, complaints and resident-engagement processes, and monitor each AP’s risk controls.
- Obtain competent advice where title or lease wording is unclear; if more than one AP qualifies and agreement is impossible, consider the First-tier Tribunal procedure.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Choosing the person with the most senior job title: seniority does not replace the section 73 legal test.
- Assuming the managing agent is the PAP: an agency contract alone is not the required estate or repairing obligation.
- Treating rent receipt as possession: the Act expressly excludes mere rent receipt from possession.
- Assuming one organisation can sign away accountability: support and contact arrangements do not transfer AP or PAP duties.
- Ignoring lease demises: parts within a single dwelling or business demise may be excluded from the structure-and-exterior comparison.
- Stopping after naming one AP: where several APs exist, the PAP must coordinate the whole building and verify that the other APs are managing their risks.
- Applying England guidance across the UK without checking: the cited BSR framework is England-specific.
Bottom line on who the PAP is
There is one PAP for the building. One AP means that AP is the PAP. With several APs, select the AP whose legal estate in possession or relevant repairing obligation covers the building’s relevant structure and exterior, excluding parts within a single dwelling or business demise. Rent collection, a management contract or a BSR contact appointment is not enough. If more than one AP qualifies, the First-tier Tribunal can choose the PAP.
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