The Golden Thread vs building passports

The Golden Thread and building passports are both ways to maintain good information about a building, so how do they differ?

We are all now familiar with the term ‘Golden Thread’. This is the legal requirement for prescribed information to be maintained, catalogued and kept up to date in electronic form for high-risk buildings (HRB) in occupation. The Golden Thread is a way to demonstrate to the regulator and to residents that you are managing the HRB safely.

At building stage, all information on fire, structure, energy and ventilation is needed to show that it is compliant with building regulations for Gateway Two and Three. However, once the building is in occupation, legal requirements for the Golden Thread only cover fire and structural safety information.

That is not to say the other information can be discarded. Not only is it useful for managing the building, but should any upgrades be needed in the future there will be significant costs for retrospectively trying to find that information out (an unenviable situation facing those managing existing HRBs).

You will likely have also heard the term ‘building passport’. This a way of capturing and managing whole-life data and information on a building. As the UN states: “Many stakeholders on both the supply and demand sides are increasingly calling for accessible and reliable data and information on buildings. Policy-makers and market participants alike see the development and use of building passports as a way of overcoming current data gaps and data barriers.”

Their scope is a wider range of buildings and their focus is on information such as energy use and alterations – for example, installation of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery systems. Passports are being encouraged as best practice to maintain a good body of information about a building and naturally lend themselves to houses where owners can keep a record of steps that were taken to improve the property. So, building passports and the Golden Thread are similar in that they are a store of information, but are used on different buildings by different agencies. Well, sort of.

Social housing

Since the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, all landlords (including social landlords) are required to ensure their properties are fit for human habitation. And after the tragic death of Awaab Ishak from mould exposure in his home, Awaab’s Law was introduced in July 2023 as part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act. This requires, from October this year, that social landlords address damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm to tenants within fixed timescales. They will also have to address all emergency repairs (whether they relate to damp and mould or not) within 24 hours.

The Regulator of Social Housing sets standards for social housing providers, including ensuring properties are “fit for human habitation”, and can take action if these standards are breached. Since April 2024, the Regulator has been proactively seeking quarterly assurances that registered providers are meeting standards, specifically on habitability.

Whether social housing is an HRB or a bungalow, there is a need to maintain building information. The legal imperative of the Golden Thread, for fire and structural information on HRBs, does not cover the legal requirement to ensure the building is fit for habitation and free from hazards. In this respect, building passports could yet prove invaluable.

Further reading

• Building Passports  b.link/GlobalABC_passport
• Improving Social Housing b.link/Hansard_tenantvoice
• Awaab’s Law  b.link/GOV_Awab
• Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018  b.link/NHMF_fitness
• The Regulator of Social Housing  b.link/GOV_regulator

Image credit | iStock