FRAEW's and EWS1

BEFS Ltd is proud to be a Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) panel member and an approved provider of Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEWs) for the CSS, which is administered by Homes England.

Our team of fire safety experts have the knowledge and expertise to carry out FRAEW’s. We hold the specialist insurance cover to undertake this specific survey type and to issue EWS1 certificates categorising the survey findings in accordance with the EWS1 certification scheme.

• In the case of multi-occupied residential buildings, the Fire Safety Act puts beyond doubt that structure, external walls, and flat entrance doors fall within the scope of the Fire Safety Order. The Fire Safety Act requires the responsible persons to ensure that these elements are included in their fire risk assessments, if they have not been covered already.

• The responsible person, or competent fire risk assessor acting on their behalf, should undertake a visual inspection of the external walls. In many cases it will be obvious through a visual inspection that the risk to life from external fire spread is not such as to warrant a FRAEW. This is particularly true in buildings with brick or masonry external walls or low risk buildings which do not present any significant risk of fire spread. 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.

• However, A more detailed fire risk appraisal of the external walls under PAS 9980 may be required if, for example, there is a known or suspected risk from the form of construction used for the external wall, such as the presence of combustible materials used for cladding or external wall insulation.

• PAS 9980 provides a methodology for the fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding in existing multi-occupied residential buildings.