The Mandatory Triggers and the 4-Week Timeframe
Under Regulation 6(1) of The Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022 (SI 2022/859), a landlord MUST execute and provide a Landlord's Certificate in the prescribed form whenever any of four triggers occur:
1. When the landlord seeks to recover remediation costs through the service charge; 2. Within 4 weeks of becoming aware of a relevant building defect; 3. Within 4 weeks of receiving a Leaseholder Deed of Certificate; or 4. Within 4 weeks of receiving a formal written request from a leaseholder (typically during a sale or remortgage).
The 4-week window cannot be extended by informal correspondence or property manager delays. Once the 28 days lapse without service of a compliant certificate and accounts, the statutory sanction is locked in.
The Statutory Default Sanction: Zero Remediation Costs
To prevent landlords from evading accountability through inertia, Regulation 6(7) and Paragraph 14 of Schedule 8 create a punitive statutory sanction. Where a landlord fails to provide the certificate with all mandatory financial documentation (group corporate accounts, developer connection disclosures, and net worth calculations), the landlord is deemed to have met the developer test.
Under Section 122 and Schedule 8 Paragraph 2 of the BSA 2022, if the landlord or landlord group is associated with the original developer, or holds a group net worth exceeding £2,000,000 per relevant building, NO remediation costs of any kind can be passed into the service charge. The leaseholders' legal liability drops to exactly £0.
| Trigger Event | Statutory Deadline | Compliant Delivery | Default Sanction Under Reg 6(7) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaseholder Request (e.g. Sale) | 4 weeks from receipt | Certificate + Group Accounts provided | Deemed developer-responsible: £0 liability |
| Discovery of Defect | 4 weeks from notice | Full structural breakdown provided | Remediation cannot be charged to service charge |
| Service Charge Demand | Before or with demand | Evidence of net worth < £2m required | Service charge demand is void and unlawful |
Enforcing Your Rights at the First-tier Tribunal
If a landlord ignores the 4-week deadline and continues to demand payment for fire safety works, fire doors, compartmentation repairs, or cladding replacement, leaseholders should not pay.
Leaseholders can make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a Remediation Contribution Order under Section 124 of the BSA 2022, or a Section 27A Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 challenge. The Tribunal has repeatedly upheld that where the landlord defaulted on Regulation 6, all relevant service charge remediation demands are null and void.