External Wall Fire Review forms (ESW1), are intended to record in a consistent and universal manner what assessments have been carried out on the external wall construction of residential apartment buildings.
At Benjamin Stevens Block Management, over recent months have been receiving requests regarding the ESW1 form usually in connection with a re-mortgage application or sale of property.
To ensure clients were not being forced to spend money unnecessarily they decided to carry out some research on the EWS1 form questions as clients seem unsure of their obligations largely due to mortgage lender demands blurring the picture for everyone. The EWS1 is not actually needed for building less than the 18-metre requirement unless there is a strong indication there could be an issue with non-compliant cladding materials.
As current legislation stands, which has not changed despite mortgage lenders suggestions, it would be beneficial but by no means imperative to have the height confirmed as being under 18m in writing by a RICS qualified surveyor. It would assist with making re-mortgage applications a smoother process but there is no legal obligation to have the height assessed and recorded to satiate the EWS1 issue unless there is reason to believe the building could actually be around 18m high, or over (which would be at least 6 or 7 storeys high, in most instances) or an identified potential fire risk.
A landlord may consider the service charge fund paying for a RICS qualified surveyor’s official assessment of height but are most certainly not obliged to do it. There have been discussions surrounding the proposal for the ‘Tall building’ threshold to be lowered to 11 metres from 18, but this has not yet been changed in any official capacity and thus 18 metres is the minimum for qualifying as a tall building. You would expect a building to have at the very least a minimum of 6 floors to be over 18m in height. Unless they have some very, very tall ceiling heights!
EWS1 forms have been required by members of UK Finance or the Building Societies Association (BSA) since December 2019, for any mortgage applications for leasehold properties in residential buildings over 18m. These forms have essentially replaced the numerous liability letters, created by the various mortgage lender members of these organisations, which began to appear in the summer of 2019. The ESW1 form was a concept led and implemented by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) who intervened in order to standardise the previous liability letters. RICS also produced a non-exhaustive list of professional bodies whose full or chartered members could complete these new EWS1 forms. The RICS guidance regarding EWS1 forms states: “The EWS process, and resulting form, is a set way for a building owner to confirm to valuers and lenders that an external cladding system on residential buildings in scope above 18m in height (approx. 6-storeys) has been assessed by a suitable expert. Not every building in scope above 18m will require an EWS form – only those with some form of combustible cladding or combustible material on balconies.”
Completing EWS1 forms is not a legal requirement, despite information coming from various lenders insisting that they receive one to agree the mortgage. They are a condition being imposed on mortgage applicants by lenders. The legislative requirement which actually needs to be satiated is the completion of a suitable fire risk assessment (FRA) under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Currently many lenders are insisting that an EWS1 is completed on all buildings – even those below 18 metres in height. Currently an ESW1 is not needed for buildings less than 18m high. Where your building is under 18m, advice received is to send back a blank copy of an EWS1 form to the lender with the below response: “As per EWS1 form paragraph 1, which states this form is for buildings over 18m and that it should not be used for any other purpose, my building is under 18m so EWS1 does not apply”
There is a shortage of independent professionals that are both suitably qualified to complete an EWS1 form and who also have a suitable level of professional indemnity (PI) insurance. Where it is possible to find a suitably qualified and insured professional, quotes are very high ranging from £1,300 (for smaller blocks) to £12,000 (larger and more complex blocks) per EWS1 – especially where simple visual inspection is not possible. As EWS1s are not a legal requirement, there is no obligation on landlords to complete these at a cost to the service charge.
