Resident Engagement Strategies: Don’t forget your on-site staff!
The concept of engaging with residents is clearly not a new one. Property managers know only too well that if there were no residents, block management would be a doddle!
But in the building safety Resident Engagement Strategies I have read, too little reliance for this engagement is placed with the dedicated staff on site.
As providers of on-site staff, we need to stay abreast of the plethora of building safety legislation and ensure that we train our staff accordingly. That’s where our e-learning comes in, topped up by our managers attending webinars, conferences, and plenty of reading.
We’ve been getting to grips with the Building Safety Act 2022 Part 4, understanding who the Principal Accountable Person (PAP) is and all their duties, many of which are falling to the managing agent to perform on their behalf. One such responsibility is the production of a Resident Engagement Strategy (RES), a requirement under s91 of Part 4. If you don’t have time to read the legislation, the government guidance on RES provides a helpful summary.
Who should you be engaging with?
What surprised us the most about the legislation is the fact that a resident is defined as anyone living in the building aged 16 years and upwards. In other words, you need to engage with 16 and 17 year olds, as well as adults who may be owner-occupiers, live-away landlords or tenants.
Who knows the residents better than the on-site staff?
What the government guidance does not mention even once is the vital role that on-site staff play when it comes to resident engagement and their ongoing building safety education. Who knows the residents better than the on-site staff? Who can have short but regular conversations about building safety with the residents? Who is best placed to know if your residents have mobility issues or other disabilities? Who is likely to find out first if a resident needs to receive information about building safety in a language other than English?
So empowering on-site and putting them at the core of building safety was our plan, which we have been developing since the requirement for RES came into force in April 2024 – and now we are producing resident engagement strategies ourselves, which we’re rather proud of.
Hands on approach to RES
Our resident engagement strategies include:
1. A visit to your property
2. Meeting with key members of your team when on site
3. A site walk-about with your team (and ideally a visit to an inside of an apartment)
4. Taking the property manager through a pre-RES questionnaire, to make sure all bases are covered.
Overcoming apathy
A major challenge of building safety resident engagement is to overcome apathy. And due to this apathy, those responsible for executing the RES (the PAP or their managing agent) may start to think of it as a tick-box exercise. It isn’t and must not be seen that way.
When we review a resident engagement strategy before sending off to clients, we remind ourselves each time that the most straightforward of building safety matters that are well explained to residents can save lives. Keep your fire doors closed. Make sure you know where the exit routes are. Look out for vulnerable neighbours.
The right on-site staff – H&S trained, smart, eloquent, computer literate – can transform any residential building. When it comes to building safety, these stars on site are in a position to save lives too. Put them at the heart of your building safety resident engagement strategy today!
Nick Regnier, Managing Director
Click button below to see an overview of how we can help you with Resident Engagament Strategies for PAPs.