Over two-thirds (70%) of maintenance professionals state that staying compliant is the most significant problem in their business.
Words by: Paul Bullard, Product and Professional Services Director at SFG20, the industry standard for building maintenance specifications.
Facilities management faces unprecedented challenges with a wave of new legislation demanding water-tight compliance and thorough understanding. Key examples include the Fire Safety Act 2021, Building Safety Act 2022, Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, and Part B of Building Regulations. Integrating these requirements into maintenance plans, while ensuring ongoing compliance, is a significant concern for many in the property sector.
Building maintenance has evolved from a background concern to a fundamental aspect of health, safety and operational efficiency. While a reactive ‘fix on fail’ approach might be enough for non-statutory maintenance, it raises the risks of neglecting statutory maintenance tasks, endangering property owners and tenants.
Compliance has become a key focus in facilities maintenance, not only due to changes in legal obligations, but also by high-profile incidents that have garnered public attention to how buildings are being maintained. Non-compliance now carries both legal and reputational risks and understanding one’s responsibilities in building maintenance has never been more crucial.
The ‘Golden Thread’ of information
The ‘Golden Thread’ concept ensures a comprehensive, unbroken chain of information and accountability throughout a building’s lifespan. Every aspect of a building’s maintenance and safety must be documented, ensuring that information is easily accessible and up to date.
While this is currently mandatory for high-risk structures, its principles are valuable for all buildings. As the building maintenance industry moves towards greater responsibility and transparency, it is likely that this approach will become standard practice across the board in the future.
There are two main pieces required to be covered in the golden thread: the construction of the building, including design work, and maintenance. Being able to capture all aspects of the design and build stages ensures any modifications are documented accurately to make it easier to identify potential risks associated with the building.
The golden thread needs to start during the design and construction phases to collate, record and provide relevant information about the building. By creating a change control log, building managers will be able to capture any changes proposed, decision makers and rationale for the changes to keep a full record of the building.
During the design and building phases, the Client is responsible for creating the golden thread of building information. Responsibility also sits with the principal designer and principal contractor to add to the golden thread throughout the design and construction process.
Once the building work has been completed, the responsibility of maintaining the golden thread sits with the ‘Principal Accountable Person’ – the individual or organisation who owns or has responsibility for the building once it is occupied, including those responsible for repairing or maintaining common parts of the buildings.
The consequences of non-compliance
Non-compliance means you are carrying a series of risks that can compromise both your business and your workers. No harm is required to commit a criminal offence – non-compliance with health and safety rules means you become accountable and can receive sanctions as a result.
A single instance of non-compliance can result in written advice, a prohibition notice, or prosecution, depending on the severity of risk carried.
This can be costly for an organisation with heightened expenses as a result, including:
- Reputational damage, causing a loss of sales
- Increased insurance premiums
- Legal penalties (including fines, that average £150,000, and the potential for prison sentences)
To effectively meet continuously tightening building legislations, it is essential to understand your assets, create your maintenance strategy, and stay up to date with regulations. While achieving compliance can be challenging, a systematic approach coupled with appropriate tools can simplify the process for building owners and facilities managers.
The Building Safety Regulator was established to encourage compliance, transparency and accountability in the FM sector. They are taking a proactive stance and setting an example, by distributing sanctions where buildings are non-compliant. The Regulator’s focus is not only to regulate higher-risk buildings, but also to raise safety standards of all building.
For more information on how to remain compliant with the Building Safety Act and tightening legislation, please refer to SFG20’s e-guide here.
Read the official government guidance on the Building Safety Act here.
About SFG20:
Launched in 1990 by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), SFG20 is recognised as the industry standard for building maintenance specification. With access to an extensive library of maintenance schedules that update dynamically to reflect changes in legislation and health and safety regulations, you can create customised maintenance schedules that are designed to keep you compliant while also saving you time, effort and money.
