A refusal does not mean that the building safety case can never be accepted. However, the response should focus on understanding and addressing the reasons for the refusal rather than simply resubmitting the same report with additional wording.
A refusal may identify specific shortcomings, but these can sometimes point to a wider problem with the underlying safety case. For example, the issue may not be that a particular paragraph is missing, but that there is insufficient evidence that an important control is effective or that a significant risk has not been adequately assessed.
The Principal Accountable Person should therefore consider the regulator's findings alongside the safety case as a whole.
This might require additional evidence, specialist assessment, further investigation, changes to risk controls, improvements to management arrangements or clearer safety arguments.
The revised safety case report should then reflect those improvements.
The objective should be to resolve the underlying risk management and evidential issues, not simply produce a document that looks different from the version that was refused.
Next step
Talk to us about reviewing your building safety case
Already have a report? We can look at the risk argument and the evidence behind it.
Find out moreRelated questions
- What happens if the BSR does not accept a safety case report?
A report that does not adequately demonstrate how building safety risks are managed may lead to requests for further information or contribute to a Building Assessment Certificate application being refused.
- Can an existing safety case report be improved rather than rewritten?
An existing safety case report rarely needs rewriting from scratch — the priority is improving the underlying safety case.
- What are the most common weaknesses in building safety case reports?
The most common weakness is treating the safety case as a compliance report rather than a risk management argument.
Building safety legislation, regulation and Building Safety Regulator guidance can change. This page is general information, not legal advice — always refer to current legislation and official guidance for your building.