Part 2: The Regulator and its functions Committees Section 11: Residents’ panel Effect
This section requires the Building Safety Regulator to establish a committee known as the residents’ panel. The purpose of the panel is to ensure that residents have a voice in the work of the Building Safety Regulator, and the Building Safety Regulator has a broad power to consult the residents’ panel on any of its functions which impact the residents of higher-risk buildings.
	The panel must include residents, and may also have members from the following groups: owners of residential units (e.g. flats) in higher-risk buildings who are not occupying the property (who could, for example, be impacted by expenses relating to the higher-risk building); and groups or organisations which are representative of residents and/or non-occupying leaseholder owners, advocate for them or support them. The representative group could be a member of the panel as a body, or the member of the panel could be an individual member of such representative bodies (expected to be experts or representatives nominated by that body).
	The Building Safety Regulator must take all reasonable steps to secure the representation of the interests of disabled residents of higher-risk buildings on its Residents’ Panel. The Regulator could achieve this by ensuring the committee includes one or more residents of higher-risk buildings who are disabled, appointing a body to the panel who sends their most appropriate representative from time to time or nominating individual members of such representative bodies (expected to be experts or representatives nominated by that body). These bodies and representatives must be those which will support or promote the interests of disabled people including residents of higher-risk buildings
	The Act also requires that the Building Safety Regulator must consult the residents’ panel on certain matters which it is expected would be of particular interest and importance for residents of higher-risk buildings, specifically:
Under this section, the residents’ panel must be consulted on guidance to residents on their rights and obligations under the new regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings in occupation.
Under this section, the residents’ panel must be consulted on guidance relating to any duties under section 89 (provision of information etc. to the regulator, residents and other persons) where the guidance is about information provision to residents.
Under this section, the residents’ panel must also be consulted on guidance relating to section 91 (residents’ engagement strategy), section 92 (requests for further information), section 93 (complaints procedure operated by the principal accountable person), section 95 (duties on residents and owners) or regulations made under any of those Sections.
Section 17 requires that the Building Safety Regulator must consult the residents’ panel on its strategic plan.
Section 94 requires that the regulator consult the residents’ panel on its system for dealing with complaints from residents that are escalated to the Building Safety Regulator.
	Section 11 should also be read alongside section 20, which requires the Building Safety Regulator to publish an annual statement on how it engages with the residents’ panel, in addition to any other wider engagement with residents and related groups.