An EWS1 Form completed in respect of a Flat following an inspection by a suitably qualified professional will give one of five possible answers, within two categories:-
Category A (this category applies where buildings have external wall materials that are unlikely to be combustible) -
A Category A inspection must be carried out by a competent professional (who not need be a fire engineer) – they are required to certify that the building has external wall materials that are unlikely to be combustible and also testify that cavity barriers have been correctly installed within the external wall. They must also assess whether there are any other physical attachments to the exterior of the building (i.e. a balcony which will require similar evaluation)
The results of a Category A inspection will be one of the following:-
A1 – a finding within A1 is not likely to lead to any further action being required
A2 - a finding within A2 is not likely to lead to any further action being required
A3 – a finding within A3 means that remedial work may be needed on attachments to the external wall, such as balconies
Category B (this category applies where combustible materials are clearly present)
A Category B inspection must be carried out by a fire engineer and he is required to undertake a risk assessment to either confirm that the risk of fire is so low as to be deemed negligible or that remedial works are necessary
The results of a Category B inspection will be one of the following:-
B1 – a finding within B1 means that that the fire engineer has decided that the fire risk is low and no remedial work is required
B2 – a finding within B2 means that there is not an adequate standard of fire safety and remedial work/interim measures are required
EWS1 Forms were introduced as a result of the concerns for building safety following the Grenfell disaster and apply in relation to both the sale or re-mortgage of a Flat
Initially, the main area of concern was in respect of the removal of aluminium composite material (‘AMC’) cladding from buildings over 18 metres in height, but as time went on this concern was widened (following the issue by the Government in December 2018 of Advice Note 14) to also take into account non-AMC external wall cladding on high-rise buildings
The issue also became a major concern to Mortgage Lenders and by 2019 they took the view that (in order to protect their security) they needed certainty as to the safety of external wall cladding systems and introduced a condition to the approval of mortgage applications that such certainty was provided by way of a Certificate showing that the relevant building complied with Advice Note 14
There followed a period where, when being requested by the Lender to provide a valuation of the relevant Flat, if such Flat did not have the benefit if such Certificate, the Lender’s surveyor would value the Flat at either substantially below the asking price or in some cases value it at £0, meaning that the buyer was unable to obtain mortgage funding - this led to a significant decrease in activity in the sale market for Leasehold Flats
As a result, an industry-wide consultation, led by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, came up with the EWS process to apply to Blocks of Flats above 18 metres (six storeys) in height
Essentially, a safety assessment of the relevant building is carried out by a suitably qualified professional and they then compete an EWS1 form – that form will be valid for 5 years unless changes are made to the building
Although it is not a statutory requirement, Lenders, as part of their mortgage approval process, are requiring an EWS1 Form to be produced, with the implication being that is such a Form is not produced then the mortgage application will fail
Whilst the EWS1 Form was intended to apply to blocks of Flats above 18 metres in height, as a result of further Government guidance issued in January 2020 (which said that the need to assess and risk of fire spread applies to buildings of any height), Lenders started seeking such Forms for mortgage applications for Flats within Blocks which are below such height and, indeed, even where the building does not have any cladding
This lead to further consultations between the Government, Lenders’ organisations and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which led to the announcement in November 2020 that an EWS1 Form would not be needed for sales or re-mortgages of Flats within buildings which had no cladding
As well as the ‘global’ approach taken by Lenders as to the need for an EWS1 Form there are also two further issues in relation to the inspections needed in order to complete such Forms:-
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There is currently a lack of suitable qualified professionals to carry out such inspections
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In view of the potential risk if the professional gets it wrong, the insurance industry are reluctant to issue professional indemnity insurance to those professionals
NEW APPROACH TO ASSESSING THE EXTERNAL WALL FIRE RISK IN MULTI-OCCUPIED RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
In January 2022 the Government withdrew its previous Consolidated Advice Note and this was replaced by the new PAS 9980:2022 Code of Practice issued by the BSI. This new Code provides a methodology (and also guidance) for the fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding of existing multi-storey and multi-occupied residential buildings
It is intended for use by competent fire engineers and other competent building professionals who are required to advise upon the fire risk of external wall construction of existing blocks of flats
The purpose of a fire risk appraisal is to assess the risk to occupiers from fire spreading over or within the external walls of the building and decide whether, in the specific circumstances of the building, remediation or other mitigated measures to address the risk are considered necessary
The Code is intended to apply where the risk is known, or suspected, to arise from the form of construction used for the external wall build up, such as the presence of combustible materials, and is expected to drive a more risk-based and proportionate approach to remediation
It is not the intention that the Code be an alternative to the EWS1 Form
CHANGES TO THE EWS1 FORM
Following on from the introduction of the Code, in March 2022 the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (surveyors) and UK Finance and the Building Societies Association (mortgage lenders) updated the EWS1 Form and the RICS also updated its valuation guidance
Changes to the EWS1 Form include:-
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a reference that those who have completed the EWS1 Assessment Training Programme are now able to complete the EWS1 Form and it also covers whether interim measures are required
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the Form is now electronic, making it easier to access
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the Form now includes a version control (making it easier to assess how many times a building has been assessed by the same assessor or company)
The RICS has also issued a recommendation that all completed EWS1 Forms are uploaded to the relevant portal, to avoid duplication
To see the 'Learn with Laurie' YouTube video guide:
"What is an EWS1 Form?"
Click the link below:
