Voluntary Occurrence Reporting System (VORS) Explained: How It Supports Safer High-Rise Buildings
While the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR), a legal duty to inform the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) about serious structural or fire safety incidents, it also encourages a Voluntary Occurrence Reporting System (VORS). VORS is designed to capture less severe issues, near misses and learning opportunities before they escalate into reportable safety events.
What VORS is for
- Early warning: Allows building owners, facilities managers and residents to flag structural or fire-related concerns that do not yet meet the MOR threshold.
- Learning culture: Encourages organisations to collect and share lessons about emerging safety risks without fear of legal penalty.
- Trend spotting: Helps identify patterns of minor defects or operational problems (e.g. water ingress leading to concrete corrosion) before they turn into significant failures.
- Supporting the Golden Thread: All voluntary reports can be added to the building’s digital record, providing a richer picture of its safety history.
Confidentiality and protection
Voluntary reports are confidential and are used primarily to improve safety, not to punish those who raise concerns.
- The BSR treats VORS submissions as non-punitive, aiming to build trust and encourage honest reporting.
- Individuals or organisations who share information voluntarily are generally protected from enforcement unless the issue clearly meets the mandatory reporting threshold but was deliberately concealed.
- Internal VORS channels within a building should also reassure staff and residents that personal details can be kept confidential where appropriate.
This confidentiality makes VORS a safe way to raise early concerns without fear of blame.
Why it matters for structural safety
Structural issues often develop gradually: cracks spread, concrete spalls, steel corrodes, or alterations weaken load paths. A VORS gives owners and managing agents a structured way to capture and track these warning signs early, rather than waiting until they trigger a formal MOR.
Typical voluntary reports could include:
- New cracking in walls, slabs or columns that appears after refurbishment
- Signs of movement or settlement not yet impacting safety
- Water leaks that might lead to corrosion of reinforcement
- Reports from residents about unusual sounds, deflection or vibration
Logging these events helps engineers plan targeted inspections and preventive action.
How to implement a VORS in your building
- Create a simple reporting channel: e.g. an online form or dedicated email for residents, caretakers and maintenance staff.
- Define what should be reported: minor cracks, leaks, vibrations, unexpected movement, or other anomalies.
- Review and triage: a competent structural engineer should periodically review reports and decide if follow-up inspection or testing is needed.
- Update the Golden Thread: document each report, actions taken and outcomes for future reference.
- Communicate back: let residents know that reports are valued and addressed.
How Structures Made Easy can help
- Setting up practical VORS frameworks alongside your Golden Thread.
- Providing Chartered Engineer reviews of voluntary reports to decide when an issue needs escalation.
- Integrating voluntary findings into Structural Safety Reports and Risk Assessments.
- Supporting PAPs to create a transparent, proactive safety culture without unnecessary alarm.
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