Building Safety Certificate

11
Feb

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

A Building Safety Certificate (‘BSC.);is required for Sandown Court. it is obtained from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR, part of HSE) for higher risk buildings (HRBs). The BSC is required to prove we meet the legal duties under the Building Safety Act 2022 for fire and structural safety, and exists to ensure accountability and prevention major accidents, such as Grenfell Tower. The BSC confirms effective risk management for large residential buildings to protect residents from fire spread and structural failure.

Failure to obtain a Building Safety Certificate will result in the following:

Prosecution and unlimited fines

Imprisonment – Under the Building Safety Act 2022, serious breaches can now lead to imprisonment for up to two years for directors of the company and for the Accountable Person significantly harsher penalties.

Demolition or Remediation – Preston City Council can issue a section 36, requiring you pull down, alter, or remove the work. If you fail to comply, they can do it themselves and recover the costs from you.

Placed onto special measures – The building will be forced to change its Fire Strategy from STAY PUT to SIMULTANEOUS EVACUATION. In the event of a fire the building will have to be evacuated and to aid early detection of a fire a waking watch operating 24/7 will be needed like we had during the enforcement notice period leading to a significant cost for leaseholders.

Below are a list of reports and surveys that are needed to support our application in applying for the ‘BSC.’ As you can witness from the list below, the application is most complex and requires specialist knowledge. Therefore, we have engaged a team experienced in such applications to help guarantee that our application is successful.

  • Construction of the Building Safety Case
  • Fire Risk Assessment (external wall)
  • Compartmentalisation line survey
  • Structural Survey Report
  • Production of floor plans
  • Accident and Incident reporting procedure
  • Critical Incident Plan
  • Review of current fire safety asset provision incl FF provisions Review of current FRA’s
  • Resident engagement strategy (RPEEPS)
  • Control of contactor’s policy
  • Mandatory occurrence reporting policy
  • Reporting of defects to local FRS
  • Maintenance and testing policy
  • Fire door inspection policy.
  • Staff training policy
  • Construction of fire safety folder
  • Competency statement for Principal Accountable Person
  • Competency statement for FSS Ltd

Applying for the BSC is costly for the leaseholders of Sandown Court. The known costs are shown below.

The initial expenditure for the Fire Risk Assessment (external wall) will be £24,628.50 , and the cost of the Consultants tasked with putting together our application will be £25,000. Following on will be the cost of undertaking whatever remedial work is required to meet the required standard; at this time, we do not know what that total cost will.

The External Wall inspection will be undertaken on 21st and 22nd of April. You may witness engineers drilling into external walls as part of the inspection process.

The Board considers it responsible to avoid any expenditure which is not absolutely essential until we have been successful in obtaining the ‘BSC,’ and therefore, ask your understanding and patience until we obtain this critically important Certificate.

The Board

11 February 2026

For continual updates please refer to: https://www.sandownresidents.org.uk/

Sandown Court Management Company (Preston) Limited

REGISTERED IN ENGLAND, COMPANY NO. 1976911

Registered Office: 244, Sandown Court, Avenham Lane, Preston, Lancashire, PRI 3UQ.

Tel: 01772 885428; Security Office: 01772 202388; Security Mobile: 0793 269 5039

sandowncourt244@gmail.com