Guidance

Annex D: Guidance for Applicants for fire risk appraisal of external walls

Updated 2 April 2024

Applies to England

The purpose of this guidance

This guidance supports those responsible for the safety of buildings, i.e. responsible entities,^{[footnote 1]} when:

• getting a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) in accordance with PAS 9980:2022; and
• applying to the Building Safety Fund (BSF).

The BSF will make proportionate funding decisions and, for this reason, will use the findings of FRAEWs based on PAS 9980:2022 when deciding what is eligible. As a result, when you apply for the BSF, you are required to supply an FRAEW based on PAS 9980:2022.

Once eligibility has been determined, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) grant funds will be allocated based on the recommendations in the FRAEW.

Introducing PAS 9980:2022

In January 2022, the ‘Building safety advice for building owners, including fire doors’ (also known as the Consolidated Advice Note) was withdrawn to ensure it could no longer be used to justify disproportionate risk assessments of external wall systems.

MHCLG (then DLUHC) also announced on that date the publication of new guidance, PAS 9980:2022, developed by the British Standards Institution, which provides recommendations and guidance to competent fire engineers and other competent building safety professionals when carrying out an FRAEW of existing multi-storey blocks of flats.

It sets out:

• steps that can be taken to identify, assess and categorise the risks posed by external wall systems as well as
• possible remedial works that might improve the risk rating of a building via a holistic and fact-based appraisal of a building’s construction and other relevant specific features of the building.

For more detail on what the BSF requires from an FRAEW see Annex A: Technical guidance for applicants of building safety funding applying for funding via PAS 9980:2022.

From 8 April 2024, newly commissioned FRAEWs should be carried out by a panel member. You will receive details of the panel once you have completed the initial stage of your application. The use of a panel member is however not mandatory.

Will every building require an FRAEW?

All multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises now require the Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (the Fire Safety Order) to include an assessment of their external walls. In many cases, this is will not require a detailed review of their external walls. It should be obvious to a competent fire risk assessor that the risk of fire spread, particularly in buildings with brick or masonry walls, is sufficiently low that an FRAEW is not required. In these cases, the fire risk assessor will normally address compliance of external wall construction with the Fire Safety Order as part of the routine Fire Risk Assessment process.

An FRAEW based on PAS 9980:2022 is applicable 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.

What is the BSF’s eligibility criteria?

The Fund will be open to applications from building owners or responsible entities of private or social sector buildings that meet the following eligibility criteria:

• buildings that are 18m or above (with 30cm tolerance) when measured in accordance with diagram D6 of Approved Document B;
• buildings with at least one qualifying residential leaseholder^{[footnote 2]} (with exception of social sector landlords applying due to financial viability concerns);
• the building must have cladding, using the definition of cladding set out in the PAS 9980:2022 guidance^{[footnote 3]}. (If you have buildings that have external walls that comprise only masonry or concrete construction, or in which combustible materials are limited to insultation within the cavity of double skin masonry walls you should consider whether you need to procure an FRAEW);
• have an FRAEW following PAS 9980:2022 methodology which recommends action to address life safety fire risks presented by the external wall system.

For buildings eligible for Building Safety Funding, any unsafe ^{[footnote 4]} ACM (Aluminium Composite Material) cladding found will need to be removed and replaced, the costs of which will be eligible for government funding. Competent persons carrying out an FRAEW following the methodology set out in PAS9980:2022, should take this into account when undertaking the FRAEW. See advice for building owners.

My building has an External Wall System Fire Review certificate (EWS1), do I still require an FRAEW?

If you intend to apply to the BSF, you are required to supply an FRAEW - which recommends actions to address fire safety risks.

If you have an EWS1 certificate underpinned by an FRAEW, your assessor should provide you with this. The BSF will accept FRAEWs provided they meet the requirements set out in the Annex A: Technical guidance for applicants of building safety funding applying for funding via PAS 9980:2022.

If you do not have an EWS1 form that is underpinned by an FRAEW, this may still be useful to enable your fire risk assessor to produce their appraisal and help avoid further unnecessary survey work.

My building is likely to require an FRAEW how can I acquire one?

PAS 9980:2022 is intended for use by fire engineers and other competent building professionals. To obtain an FRAEW completed to the PAS 9980:2022 methodology, you should contact an appropriately qualified and competent professional with suitable experience of multi-storey residential buildings. This may include, but is not limited to:

• Building surveyors
• Architects
• Façade and fire engineers

Suitable consultants from appropriate accredited professional organisations may be found by following the links provided below:

• Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
• Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
• Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT)
• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
• Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
• Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)
• Society of Façade Engineers (SFE)
• Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)

Members of other professional organisations may also be able to produce an FRAEW, however, you should ensure that your building professional has the appropriate level of competence, technical ability and relevant recent experience.

How do I check my assessor is qualified?

It is essential that your chosen external wall assessor can demonstrate their competency, outlined in PAS 9980:2022 (Section 8), and skill-set (Annex H).

External wall assessors must:

• be able to demonstrate evidence of competence with respect to assessing the life safety fire risks posed by external wall construction and cladding, including experience in conducting investigations into the fire safety
• understand how materials used in external walls behave in fire and must have knowledge of the fire performance standards required for such materials
• be able to understand the fire strategy and fire risk assessment considerations for such buildings and be able to make judgements regarding fire hazards and fire safety features that will influence the outcome of an FRAEW

My building is in the BSF process already, do I need to submit an FRAEW?

If you have not provided sufficient evidence to determine the eligibility for at least one cladding system on your building, you will have until 30 September 2022 to provide this evidence, in order to proceed using the original BSF technical requirements regarding the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding systems. If you do not provide sufficient evidence by this date, then you will be required to provide an FRAEW and re-apply to the BSF using the separate guidance for new applications from 28 July 2022.

Existing Applicants which have provided sufficient evidence to determine the eligibility for at least one cladding system on their building will not be required to submit an FRAEW. However, the use of PAS 9980:2022 to inform the scope of works is optional for existing Applicants to the BSF where:

• their full funding application has not been approved

or

• works have not started on site

If you are considering the option to undertake an FRAEW, you should discuss this with your delivery partner.

What information is required?

The guidance in PAS 9980:2022 is extensive, covering:

• what must be considered, a methodology and benchmark criteria for identifying and categorising risk, and
• how the FRAEW should be formatted.

To ensure your FRAEW meets the basic requirements of the Fund, MHCLG will assess your FRAEW using the criteria outlined in Annex A: Technical guidance for applicants of building safety funding applying for funding via PAS 9980:2022. Please ensure that you have considered this guidance before submitting your FRAEW to the BSF.

How will MHCLG review your FRAEW?

The BSF will employ a 2-stage process for reviewing FRAEWs based on PAS 9980:2022:

1. A simple ‘non-expert’ quality-check to triage reports before further technical diligence is carried out. More details on what will be checked at this stage are provided below.
2. If passed, a specialist check will be carried out. The FRAEW will be reviewed against the guidance and methodology set out in PAS 9980:2022.

For more information on this process, please visit Annex A: Technical guidance for applicants of building safety funding applying for funding via PAS 9980:2022.

What should I do once I have received an FRAEW?

You should ensure that it meets the expectation of the BSF, as set out in Annex A: Technical guidance for applicants of building safety funding applying for funding via PAS 9980:2022. If yes, formally submit the FRAEW when you apply to the BSF.

Can I challenge a MHCLG decision to reject my FRAEW?

MHCLG will inform you of the reason(s) we are unable to accept your application. You can resubmit a revised FRAEW, provided by your assessor, that addresses the issues identified.

As a responsible entity, should I be keeping my residents and leaseholders informed throughout the application process?

Yes, it is your duty to keep residents and leaseholders informed about matters which affect the safety of their building.

Specifically, MHCLG expect you keep your residents and leaseholders updated following BSF milestones – as outlined in the ‘Keeping leaseholders and residents informed’ section of the guidance for new applicants - and respond to queries on an ongoing basis.

Where can I find further information and support?

See more information on PAS 9980:2022.

Alternatively, see the Building Safety Fund guidance for new applications 2022 or seek advice from a suitably qualified and competent professional.

---

1. The Responsible Entity is the organisation that has the legal obligation or right to carry out the remediation works. The responsible entity may be the building freeholder or head leaseholder or a management company or Right to Manage (RTM) company that has primary responsibility for the repair of the property. ↩

2. Please refer to the Building Safety Fund guidance for new applications 2022 for a detailed definition of ‘residential building with leaseholders’. ↩

3. System of one or more components that are attached to, and might form part of the weatherproof covering of, the exterior of a building. ↩

4. ‘Unsafe’ means those cladding systems that have been identified as containing combustible materials (e.g., a polyethylene core in an aluminium composite panel) and which failed the series of BS8414 tests commissioned by the government over summer 2017. ↩