A managing agent picks up statutory duties two ways: directly under Article 5 of the Fire Safety Order 2005 to the extent its contract gives it control of maintenance or safety, and by delegation from the freeholder or RMC for legionella, asbestos, lifts and electrical. It cannot be the accountable person under the Building Safety Act 2022 by contract alone. Works above £250 per leaseholder trigger section 20 consultation.
What the law requires
A managing agent sits between the freeholder or resident management company that owns the duties and the leaseholders who pay for them. The law reaches the agent in two ways, and confusing them is the root of most compliance disputes in block management.
Direct duties. Article 5(3) of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 imposes the fire safety duties in Articles 8 to 22B on every person who has control of the premises to any extent, and Article 5(4) treats a person with a contractual obligation for maintenance, repair or safety as having control to the extent of that obligation. An agent whose contract includes maintaining the common parts is therefore a duty holder under the Order in its own right, for the matters within its control. Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 separately requires the agent to conduct its undertaking so that residents, visitors and contractors are not exposed to risk.
Delegated duties. The freeholder or RMC holds the legionella, asbestos, lifting and electrical duties as the person in control of the premises, and delegates their delivery to the agent under the management agreement. The liability stays with the client; the agent's exposure is contractual and professional. The management agreement should say precisely which duties the agent delivers, and this guide is a map of what those duties are. For the way the same roles are recorded across a portfolio, see our duty holder guide.
Who is responsible: the three roles
Responsible person, accountable person and managing agent compared
| Question | Responsible person (Fire Safety Order) | Accountable person (Building Safety Act, high-rise only) | Managing agent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Article 3: person in control in connection with a business, or the owner | Section 72: holder of the legal estate in possession of common parts, or person with a repairing obligation under a lease or enactment | Article 5(4) for fire to the extent of its contract; otherwise contractual delegation |
| Who it usually is | Freeholder, RMC or RTM company | Freeholder, RMC or RTM company; the principal accountable person holds the structure and exterior | The agent appointed by the above |
| Can it be delegated? | Delivery yes; the duty no | No. Government guidance: a management company operating under a contract requiring maintenance is not an accountable person, and accountable persons cannot delegate their legal obligations | Not applicable |
| What the agent can do | Deliver the fire risk assessment, maintenance and resident information | Be authorised in writing to register the building and operate the safety case, occurrence reporting and resident engagement systems | Deliver every duty under a written scope |
| Since when | 2006; recording duties strengthened 1 October 2023 under section 156 | Part 4 occupation duties in force from 16 January 2024 | Per contract |
Fire safety duties in detail
Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, in force from 1 October 2023, requires the fire risk assessment to be recorded in full, the assessor's name recorded, fire safety arrangements recorded, residents given fire safety information, records handed to a successor responsible person under Article 22A, and cooperation with accountable persons under Article 22B. Agents change; Article 22A means the outgoing agent's records must transfer intact. Our fire risk assessment requirements guide covers the assessment types for blocks of flats.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, in force since 23 January 2023, layer duties by height on buildings containing two or more sets of domestic premises.
Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 duties the agent delivers, by height
| Building | Duties |
|---|---|
| All multi-occupied residential buildings | Fire safety instructions to residents; information on the importance of fire doors (Regulations 9 and 10) |
| Over 11 metres | Communal fire door checks at least every 3 months; best endeavours to check flat entrance doors at least every 12 months; records kept (Regulation 10) |
| 18 metres or 7 storeys | Secure information box (Regulation 4); external wall design and materials information to the fire and rescue service (Regulation 5); floor and building plans (Regulation 6); monthly checks of lifts for firefighters and essential firefighting equipment, with faults not fixed within 24 hours reported to the fire and rescue service (Regulation 7); wayfinding signage (Regulation 8) |
Our fire door inspection requirements guide sets out the quarterly check, and our passive fire protection surveys guide covers the compartmentation behind the doors, which the Fire Safety Act 2021 confirmed is within the Order.
Building Safety Act duties in high-rise buildings
Where a building is at least 18 metres or seven storeys with two or more residential units, section 65 makes it a higher-risk building and Part 4 applies. The principal accountable person must have registered the building with the Building Safety Regulator, and it is an offence to allow occupation of an unregistered building. The safety case report under section 85 must be prepared as soon as reasonably practicable and produced when the regulator asks. A mandatory occurrence reporting system must be operated, with reports within 10 calendar days. A resident engagement strategy under section 91 must be in place. The golden thread of building information must be kept digitally, transferable, intelligible and secure.
The agent's position is that it can be authorised in writing to register the building and can operate every one of these systems for the client, but the client remains the accountable person. Management agreements for high-rise buildings should say so explicitly and should price the safety case work separately.
Health and safety duties beyond fire
- Legionella. ACOP L8 and HSG274 Part 2 apply to communal hot and cold water systems, tanks and boosted supplies. Sheltered and retirement blocks house susceptible occupants and warrant a tighter scheme. Our water tank inspection guide covers the roof tanks found in most older blocks.
- Asbestos. HSE confirms that in the common parts of domestic premises the person responsible for those areas, such as the landlord or the agent on its behalf, holds the Regulation 4 duty to manage, covering foyers, corridors, lifts and lift shafts, staircases and roof spaces, but not individual flats.
- Lifts. LOLER thorough examination applies where the lift is used by people at work, which includes cleaners, caretakers and contractors, and HSE recommends the same six-monthly regime in any case. Our LOLER versus PUWER guide explains why the maintenance contract does not discharge it.
- Electrical. The landlord's supply to common parts follows the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and a five-year EICR under IET Guidance Note 3.
Paying for it: section 20 and the reasonableness test
Compliance costs are service charge costs, and section 19 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 allows recovery only to the extent they are reasonably incurred and the works are of a reasonable standard. Section 20 and the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003 require consultation on qualifying works where any leaseholder's contribution exceeds £250 (Regulation 6) and on qualifying long term agreements where any leaseholder's contribution in an accounting period exceeds £100 (Regulation 4). Fire door replacement programmes, compartmentation remediation and multi-year lift or fire alarm maintenance contracts are the compliance items that most often trigger consultation. Where an enforcement notice imposes a deadline the consultation cannot meet, the agent applies to the First-tier Tribunal for dispensation rather than skipping the process; our 28-day enforcement notice guide addresses the timing conflict.
Professional standards
The RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code, 4th edition, took effect on 7 April 2026 under an approval order made on 16 March 2026, with the 3rd edition still governing conduct before that date. The code is approved under section 87 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, so tribunals take it into account. The Property Institute, formed from the merger of ARMA and IRPM in 2022, binds company members to its Consumer Charter and Standards, requires professional indemnity insurance and runs compliance reviews. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is commencing in stages; the July 2026 government response defers service charge changes to regulations to be laid later in 2026 with effect during 2027, and defers section 20 reform and mandatory agent qualifications to a separate response.
What good evidence looks like
For each block the agent should hold and be able to hand over under Article 22A: the fire risk assessment and action plan; the fire door check log with access attempts recorded; the Fire Safety (England) Regulations file for the building's height tier; the legionella risk assessment and logs; the asbestos register and plan for common parts; LOLER reports; the EICR; for high-rise buildings the registration, safety case report, occurrence log, resident engagement strategy and golden thread; and the section 20 consultation records for every qualifying item. Every contractor entry should carry the competence evidence set out in our contractor vetting and accreditation guide.
Common failures and enforcement consequences
- Treating the agent as the accountable person. The regulator will look to the freeholder or RMC, and the client may not know it.
- No Article 22A handover. Records lost on a change of agent, leaving the new agent to commission everything afresh.
- Section 20 skipped under deadline pressure. Recovery capped at £250 per leaseholder unless dispensation is obtained.
- Fire door checks without access records. Best endeavours must be evidenced.
- Asbestos in common parts unmanaged because the block is domestic.
- Contract silent on scope. The agent assumed the client held a duty; the client assumed the agent did.
Wales
The Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 creates accountable persons and principal accountable persons for buildings with two or more residential units, with registration for Category 1 (18 metres or 7 storeys) and Category 2 (11 to 18 metres or 5 to 6 storeys) buildings and safety case reports for occupied Category 1 buildings. Commencement is staged and should be checked before relying on any date.
Working with TICDesk
TICDesk is a UK procurement desk for testing, inspection and compliance work. Tell us the number of blocks, their height tiers, the disciplines that are due and any section 20 timetable, and we introduce up to three vetted providers per discipline, typically within 48 hours, with the competence evidence your consultation notices need. The service is free to the client; TICDesk earns a success fee from the contractor. Visit our fire safety desk or open a brief.
Frequently asked
Is a managing agent the responsible person under the Fire Safety Order?
Not usually, but it carries duties anyway. Article 3 makes the responsible person the person in control of the premises in connection with a business, or the owner. Article 5(3) imposes the same duties on any other person with control to any extent, and Article 5(4) treats anyone with a contractual obligation for maintenance, repair or safety as having control to that extent. An agent with a maintenance remit therefore holds fire safety duties in its own right.
Can a managing agent be the accountable person for a high-rise building?
No, not by a management contract. Section 72 of the Building Safety Act 2022 defines the accountable person as the holder of the legal estate in possession of the common parts or a person with a repairing obligation under a lease or enactment. Government guidance states that a management company operating under a maintenance contract is not an accountable person and that accountable persons cannot delegate their legal obligations. An agent can be authorised in writing to register the building.
What are the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 duties on a managing agent?
The duties fall on the responsible person and the agent delivers them under contract. For every multi-occupied residential building: fire safety instructions and fire door information to residents. Above 11 metres: communal fire door checks at least every three months and best-endeavours annual checks of flat entrance doors. At 18 metres or seven storeys: a secure information box, plans and external wall information to the fire service, wayfinding signage, and monthly checks of lifts and firefighting equipment.
When does section 20 consultation apply to compliance works?
Under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and the Service Charges (Consultation Requirements) (England) Regulations 2003, qualifying works must be consulted on where any leaseholder's contribution would exceed £250, and qualifying long term agreements of more than twelve months where any leaseholder's contribution in an accounting period would exceed £100. A fire door replacement programme or a five-year lift maintenance contract usually triggers consultation. Failure caps recovery at the threshold unless the tribunal grants dispensation.
What changed with the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code?
The 4th edition took effect on 7 April 2026 under an approval order made on 16 March 2026, replacing the 3rd edition, which still governs acts and omissions before that date. The code is approved by the Secretary of State under section 87 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, so a tribunal can take a breach into account when deciding whether service charges are reasonable. Agents should check their procedures against the new edition.
What health and safety duties does a managing agent hold beyond fire?
Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires the agent to conduct its undertaking so that people not in its employment are not exposed to risk. In practice the agent manages, for the client, the legionella risk assessment and monitoring of communal water systems under ACOP L8, the asbestos register and plan for common parts under Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, LOLER examinations of lifts, and the landlord EICR.
What is the status of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024?
The Act received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024 and is being commenced in stages. Building Safety Act amendments took effect in July and October 2024, and right to manage changes on 3 March 2025. The July 2026 government response states that the service charge measures, including standardised demands, annual reports and information rights, will be brought in by regulations laid later in 2026 with changes during 2027. Section 20 reform and mandatory agent qualifications are deferred.
Sources & further reading
