Fire risk appraisal of external walls (FRAEW)
Helping you ensure your external walls are safe and compliant
External Wall Safety and Compliance
Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, fire safety in blocks of flats, particularly around cladding and external walls has become a high profile subject on the public agenda.
So, if you are responsible for building safety, you now have the following additional challenges:
Facade Fire Safety Consultants
We are experienced in and fully insured for, carrying out Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls and providing EWS1 Forms for building owners or responsible persons.
External wall fire risk assessment
Through desktop review, site inspection and intrusive investigations, our expert team will provide you with clear advice on external wall fire safety alongside wider advice relating to recent and upcoming legislation such the Fire Safety Act and compiling the ‘Golden Thread’ of information relating to a buildings fire safety.
We will conduct a visual appraisal of the building, to assess the make-up of the external wall system. Consideration of the original age of construction, building regulations at the time and any supporting structural reports the client may have to validate the construction methods and materials.
The experienced fire engineer will then apply the rationale approach from PAS9980 to determine if there is minimal discernible risk, in which case the Step 1 report is as far as this goes.
In this instance, we can provide you with an indemnified report to confirm that no further investigation is required. This report can also be used to validate Safety Case report arguments for HRBs.
If the step 1 review highlights areas of concern it will recommend a progression to a full intrusive FRAEW.
We will work with you to plan a programme of works, with communication to residents, arranging contractors to provide ‘opening up’ points on the exterior of the building for which we can take samples to understand the external wall make up.
Our Engineers also use borescopes to determine if the critical cavity barriers are located and in position correctly. All the reports include a full description and photographs which ‘tell the story’ of what is happening beneath the ‘façade’ of the building. These are critical reports for substantiating your Safety Case if you have HRBs.
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Don't risk potential FRAEW problems
Take action and deal with your FRAEW concerns today. If you reach out to us we can provide you with practical advice and a clear recommended plan of action.
If you don't take any action you could face the following problems:
In some instances without an EWS1 Form, property transactions may stall or collapse.
Non-compliance with fire safety laws can lead to enforcement action.
Potential for costly remediation and insurance complications.
Unassessed cladding may pose serious fire risks to occupants.
Talk to our experts today
Book a meeting with our experts to discuss your needs
