Higher Risk Buildings (HRBs) Guidance
Clear, plain-English guidance on criteria, responsibility, and registration
Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs) sit at the centre of the Building Safety Act 2022 regime for residential high-rise buildings in England. These are the buildings where the potential consequences of a serious fire or structural failure are greatest, and where the law requires enhanced oversight, clear accountability, and reliable information.
This guidance explains what a Higher-Risk Building is, how to determine whether a building is in scope, who holds responsibility, and how to register correctly with the Building Safety Regulator.
The task is not to become a technical specialist.
The task is to be confident the building is correctly categorised and properly registered.
What is a Higher-Risk Building (HRB)
During the occupation phase, a Higher-Risk Building is a building in England that:
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Contains at least two residential units, and
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Is at least 18 metres in height or has at least 7 storeys
You do not need to meet both the height and storey thresholds. Meeting either threshold is sufficient, provided the building meets the residential use criteria.
Some buildings are excluded from the HRB definition, including certain hospitals, care homes, hotels, secure residential institutions, and specific types of military accommodation. If there is any uncertainty about exclusions, you should always check the latest GOV.UK guidance or seek professional advice before deciding not to register.
HRB and relevant building are not the same
The term Higher-Risk Building (HRB) is not the same as relevant building.
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Higher-Risk Building (HRB) is the category that must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator and applies to the occupied high-rise regime.
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Relevant building is a separate definition used only for leaseholder protections and uses a different threshold.
Only HRBs are registered with the Building Safety Regulator.
Why Higher-Risk Buildings must be registered
Registration ensures the Building Safety Regulator has visibility of higher-risk residential buildings and can regulate them appropriately. It also establishes a clear dutyholder position, removing ambiguity about who is responsible for managing building safety risks and maintaining required information.
Registration is not a one-off administrative task. It is the start of a regulated lifecycle. Once registered, the building sits within an ongoing framework of responsibilities, evidence, and regulatory oversight.
If a building meets the HRB criteria, registration is not optional. It is an offence to allow residents to occupy an unregistered Higher-Risk Building.
Who holds responsibility
Responsibility sits with the Accountable Persons (APs) and the Principal Accountable Person (PAP).
An Accountable Person is the organisation or individual with a legal responsibility for repairing common parts of the building, such as the structure, exterior, and shared areas.
Where there is more than one Accountable Person, one must be identified as the Principal Accountable Person. The PAP is usually responsible for repairing the structure and exterior of the building.
While managing agents, consultants, and advisers may support the work, legal accountability cannot be delegated. Dutyholders must be confident the building is correctly registered and that safety information is accurate, current, and accessible.
Is my building an HRB
This is where most uncertainty arises, not because the rules are unclear, but because real buildings are complex.
If a building has 7 storeys or more and contains at least two residential units, it is an HRB for the occupation phase. In this case, a height calculation is not required to reach the decision.
Where height needs to be assessed, it is measured from the lowest adjacent ground level to the top of the floor surface of the top storey. It is not measured to the roof, and rooftop plant or machinery storeys are ignored.
Complexity commonly arises where buildings sit on sloping ground, include podiums or step-backs, have mezzanine or gallery levels, or involve interconnected blocks. Where a building is close to the threshold or difficult to interpret, professional confirmation should be obtained to avoid a high-stakes error.
This is not about overcomplicating the decision.
It is about avoiding a situation where registration should have happened, but did not.
How to register a Higher-Risk Building
Registration is completed using the GOV.UK service and must be submitted by the Principal Accountable Person or someone authorised to act for them.
Before starting, gather the information that commonly causes delays:
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Building name, address, and postcode
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Completion year and basic building description
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Number of residential units
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Storey count and height in metres, where required
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Details of all Accountable Persons and confirmation of who is the PAP
In practice, registration involves confirming the building meets the HRB criteria, confirming the dutyholders, completing the GOV.UK application carefully, paying the registration fee, and retaining a copy of what was submitted within the building’s digital record set.
Registration establishes the building within the regulatory system. From there, the focus shifts to maintaining current information and being able to evidence how safety risks are understood and controlled.
What happens after registration
Once registered, dutyholders must be able to demonstrate ongoing management of building safety risks. This includes maintaining required information in a usable digital form and ensuring it can be accessed quickly when needed.
Buildings that manage this well treat information as an operational asset, not a project by-product. The aim is readiness, not scrambling for records during inspection, resident escalation, refurbishment, or property transactions.
Download the Higher-Risk Buildings guide
The Higher-Risk Buildings guide provides:
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Plain-English explanations of HRB criteria
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Clear guidance on height and storey measurement
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Dutyholder responsibilities explained in practice
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Step-by-step registration guidance
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Advice on avoiding common categorisation errors
Our approach
NBR guides are published to support clarity, consistency, and confidence across the property sector.
They reflect publicly available legislation and statutory guidance and are intended to support understanding and good practice. They are not legal advice and should always be read alongside the latest guidance published by the Building Safety Regulator and GOV.UK.
Where information is structured, accessible, and maintained over time, compliance becomes a position of readiness rather than a reactive exercise.
More building safety guidance
Explore our full Knowledge Hub for guidance on Safety Cases, the Golden Thread, dutyholder responsibilities, and Building Safety Regulator processes.