Mandatory Occurrence Policy

2.1 This policy and procedure have been developed to ensure compliance in respect of Mandatory Occurrence Reporting, established through the Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023 which is secondary legislation made under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) and the Building Act 1984. It is required to be included within the building Safety Case for all HRB’s

2.2 The BSA requires the Principle Accountable Person (PAP) to establish a mandatory occurrence reporting system (MOR) to report building safety risks, on higher-risk buildings (HRB), to the Regulator. A ‘mandatory occurrence reporting system’ is a means of giving information to the AP and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). The system allows the reporting of relevant safety issues to the Building Safety Manager who, in turn, reports these to the Building Safety Regulator.

2.3 The Building Safety Act 2022 Section 62(1) defines a ‘building safety risk’ as a risk to the safety of people in or about a building arising from any of the following occurring as regards the building:

a) the spread of fire

b) structural failure

c) any other prescribed matter.

2.4 The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 defines a ‘Safety occurrence’ as an incident or situation relating to the structural integrity of, or spread of fire in, a higher risk building that meets the risk condition.

2.5 The ‘risk condition’ is met if a part of a building in use would be likely to present a risk of a significant number of deaths, or serious injury, to a significant number of people due to an incident or situation not being remedied.

2.6 The safety occurrence must have taken place in the part of the building for which the Accountable Person (AP) is responsible.

2.7 Some examples that could meet the criteria of what to report to BSR when the building is occupied by residents, include:

a) the spread of fire or something that could lead to the spread of fire

b) total or partial collapse of the building

c) defective building work

d) unexpected failure or the degradation of construction materials

e) the discovery of structural defects

f) failure of a critical fire safety measure, such as an automatic opening vent, smoke extraction or fire doors

2.8 Some examples that could meet the criteria of what to report to BSR during the construction of a new building by the Principal Designer (PD) and Principal Contractor (PC), include:

a) defective building work, including defective competent person scheme work which is part of the wider building work

b) fire safety issues likely to result in the spread of fire

c) the use of non-compliant products or incompatible compliant products in the construction of the building

d) inappropriate or incorrect installation of construction products

e) product failure against specification and claimed performance

f) faults in the design plans, caused by either design software or human error

Occupied HRBs managed by B3Living - summary

3.1.1 If an internal staff member identifies a Mandatory Occurrence (see 3.1.9).

3.1.2 If a resident identifies a Mandatory Occurrence (see 3.2.1).

3.1.3 The AP will be responsible for ensuring the safety occurrence is recorded on a Mandatory Occurrence Notice Form (Appendix 1) and the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Log for the building.

3.1.4 The AP will be responsible for reporting safety occurrences to the Regulator as soon as is reasonably practicable.

3.1.5 The AP must carry out a full report ensuring the report is recorded on a Mandatory Occurrence Report Form (Appendix 2) and issue to the BSR within 10 days of the occurrence coming to the attention of the AP.

3.1.6 A Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Log should be completed to document and manage all MORs that occur in a building that is occupied. (See Appendix 3 for log example).

3.1.7 The AP will be responsible for ensuring corrective actions are established, carried out and recorded on the MOR log.

3.1.8 The AP will be responsible for any further liaison with the Regulator on the MOR matter.

Occupied HRB: Steps to raising a Mandatory Occurrence Report (MOR)

3.1.9 Internal staff member raising MOR

a. A B3 employee identifies a Mandatory Occurrence:

b. The Head of Assets and Compliance should be notified in writing, who will then notify the Building Safety Manager (BSM) that the Occurrence has been raised.

c. The BSM should complete and submit an MOR notice to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) via the BSR’s online portal detailing the information set out on the MOR Notice form. (Before the FBSM completes an MOR notice form they must check all previously submitted notices and reports to see if the incident has already been raised and investigated).

d. The BSM should inform the Head of Assets and Compliance that the MOR notice has been submitted to the BSR and should record the Mandatory Occurrence Reference Number provided by the BSR on the MOR Notice form.

e. The FBSM and Head of Assets and Compliance should investigate the MOR notice and ensure the MOR report is submitted within 10 days, detailing the information set out on the “MOR report form”.

f. The investigation should include the production and submission of a detailed report identifying the cause, effect and what has been done to remediate/eliminate any risk including interim measures. This report together with the MOR notice and report must be provided for inclusion in building safety case to ensure it is included into the golden thread of information for the building.

g. The FBSM should ensure that the Fire and Building Safety Officer (FBSO) is informed of any MOR notices and reports.

h. The Fire and Building Safety Officer will keep a log of all MOR notices and reports that have been submitted to the BSR, including issuing weekly reports requesting updates, if required.

i. All outcomes of an MOR will be communicated to the wider Compliance and Building Safety team and other relevant stakeholders to ensure learning is circulated to the wider organisation.

3.1.10 All MOR Reports submitted must be provided to the BSR as part of any Building Assessment Certificate (BAC) application and must include a list of incidents reported to the BSR since the last Building Assessment Certificate assessment. This must include a brief description of the incident/s, the incident date and any reference numbers provided by the BSR for the reports.

3.1.11 B3Living will follow the same process if a resident makes a complaint to us that meets the criteria of what to report to the BSR

Resident or others who use the building raising MOR

3.1.12 A resident or others who use the building identifies a Mandatory Occurrence

a. The person reporting the safety occurrence should go onto the B3Living website to complete MOR form

b. If the person reporting the occurrence does not have online access, they can report the occurrence to their building’s FBSM or FBSO via phone or email – fireandbuildingsafety@b3living.org.uk

c. Once the resident completes the MOR form, a notification will be sent to the Building Safety Team mailbox for review by the Building Safety Manager for the High-rise Building.

d. The FBSM should review the MOR form to establish whether the notice meets the criteria of a genuine MOR.

e. Should it be established that the form does not meet the criteria, the FBSM will email the resident to discuss their concerns and address their concerns via another channel. This will be done within 10 working days. The FBSM or FBSO will also visit the resident’s property, if required, to discuss with them personally as part of their monthly inspection of the buildings.

f. Should it be established that it is a genuine MOR incident, the FBSM should submit a MOR notice to the BSR, detailing the information set out on the “MOR notice form”. The FBSM should also email the resident advising that a MOR report has been issued to the BSR quoting the reference number. The FBSM or FBSO will also visit the resident’s property to discuss with them personally as part of their monthly inspection of the buildings.

g. The BSM should inform the Head of Asset and Compliance that the MOR notice has been reported to the BSR.

h. The FBSM and the Head of Asset and Compliance should investigate the MOR notice and ensure the MOR report is submitted within 10 days, detailing the information set out on the “MOR report form”.

i. The investigation should include the production and submission of a detailed report identifying the cause, effect and what has been done to remediate/eliminate any risk including interim measures. This report together with the MOR notice and report must be provided for inclusion in building safety case to ensure it is included into the golden thread of information for the building.

j. The findings of investigation or incidents will also be communicated to the person who raised the Safety Occurrence using the contact details they provided when completing the MOR form.

k. All outcomes of an MOR will be communicated to the wider Compliance and Building Safety team and other relevant stakeholders to ensure learning is circulated to the wider organisation

l. The FBSM should ensure that the Fire and Building Safety Officer (FBSO) is informed of any MOR notices and reports.

m. The Fire and Building Safety Officer will keep a log of all MOR notices and reports that have been submitted to the BSR, including issuing weekly reports requesting updates, if required.

New development works

4.1.1 The Head of Development is to ensure that the Principal Designer (PD) and Principal Contractor (PC) have established and operate an effective MOR system during the design and construction period. This will be implemented contractually through employer’s requirements

4.1.2 The notices and reports must relate to the building that is under construction or undergoing building work. They do not relate to safety incidents relating to the construction site in general or to any temporary structures.

4.1.3 The Head of Development is to monitor any MORs raised by the PD and PCs during construction and satisfy themselves that they have been reported and closed out appropriately.

4.1.4 All Mandatory Occurrence Reports are to be provided to the Development team as part of the Golden Thread on completion of the project at handover at Gateway 3. All handover information, including all MOR’s raised during construction, must be provided to the Property Asset and Compliance Team at handover.

Major Works Projects

4.1.5 The Head of Assets and Compliance with the Building Safety Manager is to monitor any MOR’s raised by the PD or PC’s during major building works, to satisfy themselves that they have been recorded and closed out appropriately

4.1.6 The BSM must be notified of any MOR’s raised during building works to existing occupied buildings.

5.1.1 A Mandatory Occurrence Notice enables B3Living to comply with Section 6 of The Higher-Risk Building Management of Safety Risks etc. (England) Regulations 2023.

5.1.2 A Mandatory Occurrence Notice should be reported online: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submit-a-mandatory-occurrence-notice-and-report

5.1.3 Mandatory reporting requirements require the following information to be recorded:

► Your Mandatory Occurrence Notice Reference

► The high-rise residential building registration reference or the building control application reference

► Contact details of the person completing the form

► Who submitted the Notice – if someone else has submitted the notice to the person completing the report, the person’s contact details

► The type of safety occurrence being reported

► What happened or has the potential of happening

► Date and time the safety Occurrence was identified

► A brief description of the safety occurrence

► What caused the safety occurrence and how it was discovered

► Who is involved and the effect or potential effect on them

► Any immediate actions taken since to keep people safe

► What you have done and plan to do to keep people safe

► Anything you think should be shared for others to learn from

► Any supporting information, such as documents, videos, or photos

6.1 As this policy needs to meet regulatory requirements, resident input would be limited. Any person can report a mandatory occurrence or incident to B3Living, this policy refers the internal process that ensures we report in the correct manner

6.2 The process for customers to raise an issue under this policy is at section 3.1.12

6.3 The customer can also access the Complaints process for High Rise buildings,

6.4 The customer voice is also represented in the high-rise resident engagement strategy.

7.1 A single reporting system is required for all Higher-Risk Building (HRB) owned by B3Living (B3L).

7.2 Failure to report a building safety risk, without a reasonable excuse, is a contravention to subsection (1) of the Building Safety Act and deemed an offence which is liable on summary conviction to a fine.

7.3 The notice must be given to the Regulator as soon as is reasonably practicable. A full report must be provided to the Regulator within 10 days of it coming to the Accountable Persons (AP) attention, beginning with the day it came to the AP’s attention.

7.4 The Resident Engagement Strategy must be reviewed by the Principal Accountable Person (PAP), within a 30-day period after a MOR in relation to the building is submitted to the Regulator, under Section 87 of the BSA,

7.5 All Safety Occurrences will need to be included in the building safety case.

7.6 The system must be accessible to all residents and other users of the building.

7.7 If an incident is reported under RIDDOR, you must also submit a separate mandatory occurrence notice and report if the incident meets the criteria for this

7.8 References

i. Building Safety Act 2022 (legislation.gov.uk)

ii. Criteria for being a higher-risk building during the occupation phase of the new higher- risk regime – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

iii. Higher-Risk Buildings (Descriptions and Supplementary Provisions) Regulations 2023

iv. The Building (Higher-Risk Buildings Procedures) (England) Regulations 2023

v. The Higher-Risk Buildings (Management of Safety Risks etc.) (England) Regulations 2023 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/907/contents/made

vi. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submitting-mandatory-occurrence-notices-and-reports

8.1 B3Living Fire Risk Management Strategy

8.2 B3Living Safety Management System

8.3 B3Living Fire Policy

8.4 B3Living Higher Risk Block Emergency Response Policy

8.5 B3Living Building Safety Resident Engagement Strategy