The up and coming Building Safety and Fire reform legislation will be relying on pin sharp safety intelligence to work effectively. If there is any ambiguity in the intelligence history may be repeated again.

With the existing H&S Working Places, CDM, and FRRO to name three, there should be a data structure to take what is required to meet the Building Safety Act/Regime. What will need to be enhanced is the accountability and audit function to show and prove that the data is up to date and regularly checked for accuracy.

If you are one of those organisations that have not yet developed a robust data structure or Building Information Model (BIM), have a look at this link. The National Housing Federation have with BIM4HAs and other bodies produced a simple to follow suite of modeling tools to help develop a more robust approach to building intelligence, which you will need to meet the requirements to high risk building management.

If you are looking at other approaches to the management of data and building intelligence reviewing the requirements in ISO 55000, principles for Asset Management will give you a good idea what 55000 is about. Specifically, ISO 55001:2014 on management systems will assist in guiding you on where you should be on the information structure. That said, if you are a small organisation, it may be too onerous to meet this standard but the methodology behind it has a good approach to managing asset ‘risk’ to allow you to form a view on what is right for your needs.

From Oct 2022 to Oct 23, Aug 2021 Gateway 1 for high-risk buildings (HRBs), you will need to be up and running with the systems in place to be gathering the intelligence. If you are not in this position, there are some steps to take to get started straight away. These are:

1. Gather building height, size and orientation.
2. Then layer the structure, fabric and manufacturers details to the second fix/fabric.
3. Add the service provided; tenure type, service provision, and tenant responsibilities.
4. Fire fighting equipment, fire precautions and inspection reports. Means of escape, fire plans for the blocks.
5. All compliance and safety information, and inspection reports. Fire, hazardous materials, NROSH etc.
6. All intel on components and their suppliers. Manufacturer’s information and any manuals which can be found.
7. Draw on local knowledge from managers and people who use the buildings daily. Fire plans, evacuations. Site fire manuals for Firefighters.

Once you have progressed the above you will need to think about the component condition information to keep your data structure up to date. Then perhaps look to add another layer to the intelligence to enhance your overall knowledge by considering:

1. Lifecycles
2. Component replacement costs.
3. Financial intelligence. (Net Present Values, discount rate, inflation tables, open market values)
4. Ownership and responsibilities.
5. Draw all your Health and Safety plans together from previous projects.
6. Incorporating existing SHE and stock condition systems.

The above may sound like overkill but you should be gathering this information already! But in the real world, I have come across organisations that have tried and failed for a number of reasons to deal with building intelligence, poor structures/data systems, turnover of key staff, and no will or the drive forward to deal with the weakness.

The above gives you the data structure and what’s needed, but you will also need to firm up on the process of audit and validation. If you have checkers, then place 2^nd level checkers to check the checkers. To have the systems to allow this to happen, either via sampling or intelligent validation needs to be in your budget and planning process now.

Data sampling is weaker, relying on 100% confirmed accurate knowledge as there could be a situation where a sample may miss incorrect data. Intelligent validation looks at the component and views the frequency on which to base the cyclical review. Depending on the component being looked at will govern the cycle. I.e., the height and structure of the building would be reviewed every 20 years or at a major refurbishment. A boiler once a year. The system could continually look for anomalies in the data using algorithms to hunt out data errors.  This would all be incorporated into the stock condition survey process but enhanced to include building safety and intelligence.

As I mentioned in previous articles the Building Safety Act will only be looking at high risk buildings unless you are in Wales. Here their Regime will be inclusive of anything with two dwellings or more. This I feel will come to England. If you are organising systems to meet HRB management, why not include all structures, including low rise but with high risk tenures.

Slightly off tangent to data management.

The industry forum discussions on the progress of the Bill/Act highlight a change relating to the Building Safety Manager. This position will not now carry a criminal offense if found to be failing the Act, though will still be financially penalised if found guilty.  For the Accountable Person, it will still be a criminal offense with both financial and possible imprisonment (up to 2 years). Time to use the intelligence already at our disposal, I think.

If you found the above useful and need some further guidance, please feel free to drop us a line at Cordery Castle or 0208 050 7424