Part 4: Higher-risk buildings Meaning of "Accountable Person" and other key definitions Section 73: Meaning of "principal accountable person" Background
This is a new provision.
	The Independent Review identified that there should be a clearly defined dutyholder during occupation who can be held to account and will have statutory obligations for ensuring that fire and structural safety is being effectively managed for the whole building. Building ownership in the UK is complex and the definition of a Principal Accountable Person will ensure that there is a lead Accountable Person, the Principal Accountable Person, specifically responsible for various obligations under the regime. This will include applying for registration, and preparing the safety case report, avoiding the possibility of any relevant parties being able to absolve themselves of obligations and duties under this part.
Example
In a building with a single Accountable Person, that Accountable Person will be responsible for all the Accountable Person duties in Part 4. Where there are two or more Accountable Persons, provisions are in place to determine that one of them will be assigned as the Principal Accountable Person with overall responsibility for meeting specific statutory obligations for the whole building.
The Principal Accountable Person will have the same statutory obligations for assessing and managing building safety risks in their own area of the building as other Accountable Persons in the building.
In a building where there is a freeholder which retains repairing obligations for the exterior and structure of the property, and there is a superior leaseholder which retains repairing obligations for all the other "inner" common parts, both entities will be Accountable Persons and the freeholder will be the Principal Accountable Person.
In a building where there is a freeholder which does not retain repairing obligations, a superior leaseholder with repairing obligations for the exterior and structure of the property and a management company where every lease in the property states that the management company is responsible for the remainder of the common parts, the superior leaseholder and the management company will be Accountable Persons. The superior leaseholder will be the Principal Accountable Person.