Kingston Block Management team advance skills in Building Safety

Kingston’s Property Managers updated their knowledge at a webinar about Building Assessment Certificate (BAC) applications.

The webinar, delivered by Tetra Consulting on behalf of The Property Institute (TPI), covered the core submission requirements, including safety case reports, resident engagement strategies and mandatory occurrence reporting.

Continued professional development is essential to building safety compliance at the high rise buildings (HRBs) under Kingston’s management and ensuring the safety of residents.

Kingston have seven high rise buildings in management and 42 developments with relevant buildings where the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022 apply.

There are several additional duties that Kingston are undertaking to ensure compliance with the Building Safety Act 2022. These additional duties require substantial in-house expertise and collaboration between departments.

The main responsibilities and processes that have been implemented include:

• Assisting PAP & contractors in preparation of Building Safety Case (BSC)
  Kingston are actively assisting Principle Accountable Person (PAP) and third party consultants in the preparation of Building Safety Cases. This critical document outlines how we will manage and mitigate risks associated with building safety. Our ongoing monitoring and management of the BSC ensure it is a living document, continually updated to reflect the current safety landscape.
• Resident Engagement Strategy issued annually and to every new occupier over 16 years old
  A key element of the new duties is a requirement to keep residents informed and engaged in safety matters. To meet this obligation, we are implementing a comprehensive Resident Engagement Strategy. Although we are not the PAP, we play a vital role as managing agents in the effectiveness of a successful Residents Engagement Strategy. We have created bespoke Resident Engagement Strategies for all our HRB clients following collation of Resident Demographics collected through surveys issued to every HRB occupier. This strategy promotes communication, ensuring that residents are informed and engaged in safety practices within their homes.
• New processes to deal with Mandatory Occurrence Reporting
  This further supports our safety framework and ensures that any incidents are reported and reviewed promptly, allowing us to implement corrective actions and prevent future occurrences.
• Implementing a Safety Management System (SMS)
  A SMS is a structured framework that helps us manage safety risks to ensure compliance with regulations. The SMS is in place to outline objectives, roles, and responsibilities to ensure our PAP clients are meeting their obligations under the act and we are prioritising our commitment to safety. 
• Bespoke Building Safety email address
  A bespoke Building Safety email address has been created to facilitate direct communication between residents and our building safety representatives. This provides an accessible way for reporting concerns and receiving timely responses.
• New Building Safety complaints process
  Our new Building Safety complaints process allows residents to voice concerns regarding safety issues, ensuring that they are addressed swiftly and effectively.
• Management of (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022
  Internal processes have been established to capture the legal triggers associated with the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022. We support current Landlord clients with the duties imposed on them to provide a Landlord Certificate and work with Leaseholders to ensure they submit a complete Leaseholder Deed of Certificate (LDoC) when requested to do so. Ensuring the team are aware of the triggers and requirements is vital as the requirement to produce these documents are time barred and there are implications if legislation is not followed correctly.

The above outlines Kingston’s commitment to ensuring that the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022 are met and managed effectively on behalf of our PAP and Landlord clients.

Because of our commitment to upskilling our team, Kingston have been fundamental in the submission of our first HRB Safety Case following a call in by the BSR. The team worked tirelessly with the PAP and professional consultants over several months to ensure that information was accurate to support the Claim – Argument – Evidence format of the Safety Case. This was submitted in October 2024.

We are working closely with industry bodies, local authorities, and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to stay informed of best practices and any future developments in building safety regulations.

Taking proactive steps to implement these additional responsibilities and initiatives not only enhances our compliance with legislation, but also creates a culture of safe, transparent, and clear engagement with our residents.