Advice and support for leaseholders (non council)

In law, there are no specific time periods for how often fire risk assessments must be done or reviewed. It states that the responsible person for assessments in your building must review it ‘regularly’ to make sure it’s up to date.

The responsible person must review the fire risk assessment if:

- there’s reason to think it’s no longer valid (for example, if there has been a fire in the shared parts of the building)

- there have been significant changes since the assessment was done (for example, major building works or more people using the building)

The assessment itself might also have a recommendation of how often it should be reviewed or updated. Reviewing an existing fire risk assessment can take less time than carrying out a new assessment. So, reviews can be done more frequently.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has guidance on fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats. For low-rise blocks of up to three storeys above ground, built in the last 20 years, fire risk assessments should be:

- reviewed every 2 years

- redone every 4 years

For blocks with higher risks (for example, because of the age of the building), or those more than 3 storeys high, fire risk assessments should be:

- reviewed every year

- redone every 3 years

In extreme cases (for the highest-risk buildings), the LGA advised a new fire risk assessment once a year.

An EWS1 certificate is an External Wall System Fire Review certificate. 

They come into play when a leaseholder is buying or selling or re-mortgaging an apartment in a multi-storey multi-occupied residential building.

 It is not a building safety certificate or a legal requirement. It is a mortgage valuation tool. EWS1 certificates are not issued by the Fire Brigade.

 The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and mortgage lenders jointly created the EWS1 form. It was launched in December 2019 as a way for mortgage lenders to assess the external wall safety of buildings over 18 meters.

It helps them decide whether to offer a mortgage on any given apartment within multi-storey, multi-occupied residential buildings.

Over time, they have been used for buildings under 18 meters. This reflects the Government’s Building Safety guidance published in January 2020 which applies to buildings of any height. 

To find the latest information on which buildings EWS1 forms apply to, and current exemptions for buildings under 18 meters, please see Cladding Q&A (rics.org). 

The certificate gives two main options:

• Option A is for buildings where the external wall system is unlikely to support combustion.
• Option B is for buildings with combustible materials present in the external wall system, which may or may not need to be remediated.

The survey outcome for each block will fall into five categories, or ratings:

Option A

A1 rating There are no attachments whose construction includes significant quantities of combustible materials (i.e. materials that are not of limited combustibility).
A2 There is an appropriate risk assessment of the attachments. This confirms that no remedial works are needed.
A3 Where neither of the above two options apply, there may be potential costs of remedial works to attachments.

Option B

B1 Surveyors conclude that in their view the fire risk (Note 8) is sufficiently low that no remedial works are required.
B2 Surveyors conclude that an adequate standard of safety is not achieved, and they have identified to the client organisation the remedial and interim measures required (documented separately).

The Mayor of London has also issued EWS1 best practise guidance.

This sets out how landlords can raise standards and improve service to leaseholders when dealing with EWS1 forms.

EWS1 forms apply to the whole building and are arranged by the building owner. Individual leaseholders are not able to purchase or arrange EWS1 surveys. EWS1 certificates are valid for 5 years.

The RICs website gives further information for leaseholders who are concerned about:

- Certificates being re-issued with a changed rating

- NIL valuations

- Height of buildings and where an EWS1 is required

- Who is responsible for obtaining an EWS 1 certificate

- Who can sign an EWS1 certificate 

This an example EWS1 certificate.

You may be able to sell a leasehold apartment without a current EWS1 certificate, where the buyer does not require a mortgage.

However, buyers may seek a substantial reduction compared to any previous market value of the apartment.

Please ask:

• your managing agent for a copy of the Intrusive Survey Report for your building
• your managing agent for a copy of the Fire Risk Assessment for your building. It will let you see what risks have been identified and what actions have been recommended to address the risks
• them what has changed that has led to the decision to appoint a Waking Watch
• your managing agent what other steps to address the fire safety risk they have considered and rejected. This could be improvements to fire doors, temporary alarm systems or changing evacuation procedures
• your managing agent if they have secured three independent quotations for the Waking Watch provider
• to see the service specification for the Waking Watch provider so you can see what service they should be providing to you
• your managing agent if they will be applying to the Waking Watch Relief Fund to pay for any Waking Watch required
• your manging agent what steps they are taking to address the fire risk more permanently. This will mean that Waking Watch can be removed as soon as possible

Please see the advice from Leasehold Advisory Service. 

If you continue to have problems getting details from your freeholder or managing agent, contact fire-safety@towerhamlets.gov.uk, your local councillor or MP.

The government has set up a Fund to support the remediation of buildings that have ACM and other types of cladding.  The second round of the Fund was launched in July 2022.

For more details please see:

• Building Safety Fund guidance for new applications from July 2022
• Remediation of non-ACM buildings
• Find support as a leaseholder or residents of a building in the Building Safety Fund process

If you need help with the terminology used by the Fund, please read the Building Safety Fund: Leaseholder and Resident Service glossary.

Making an application to the Building Safety Fund is a complex process.  Applications to the Building Safety Fund are made by the Freeholder/Managing Agent/Right to Manage Company rather than individual leaseholders. 

The Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) have useful information that explains what managing agents / freeholders have to do to complete a Building Safety Fund application.

The government has published guidance for leaseholders or residents of a building where an application is underway from the Building Safety Fund.