Welsh Building Safety Fund: expression of interest guidance

Building safety is a priority for this Government and as such, we have worked closely with our counterparts in the UK Government to bring forward legislation that will apply in Wales in relation to fire safety through the Home Office’s Fire Safety Act and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Building Safety Bill.

These legislative reforms start the journey that we will be making to ensure that future buildings are built, maintained and managed in a way that prioritises the safety of residents.

Our Programme of work is not just focussed on the future, and we are also acting to identify existing buildings that are affected by fire safety issues and the remediation works needed to reduce risks to residents.  The Welsh Building Safety Fund expression of interest is the essential first step to access support from the Welsh Government.  Responsible Owners are invited to submit information that will allow a digital survey to be carried out on your behalf, and if appropriate, further intrusive survey work to be undertaken. This is a free service, and will help identify any risks, and the measures and actions required to reduce fire risks and protect lives and property.

We understand that in some cases, you may not be able to identify the Responsible Person for your building.  If this is the case, we would urge you to contact the Welsh Building Safety Team by emailing welshbuildingsafetyfund@gov.wales.

The aims of the Welsh Building Safety Fund are to:

• identify the measures necessary to achieve an appropriate improvement in fire safety, without compromising the comfort and health and of the occupants or the integrity of the building;
• adopt a whole building approach for reduction of fire risk thus avoiding the need for additional works at a later date and other unintended consequences;
• identify how works would address issues of concern and resolve issues in relation to personal safety, insurances, saleability of properties.

This supporting guidance below will help you to complete the Building Safety Fund expression of interest.

Part A: personal details

A1 Are you the Responsible Person for this building/s?

• Select Yes / No

A2 If you are not the Responsible Person, state what authority you have to complete this form for the building/s?

• If you are not the Responsible Person, please state what authority you have to complete this form. This could be the appointed Responsible Persons/ Building Owners/ Managing Agents or Developers.

A3 Please enter your contact name.

• Full name of person completing the form

A4 Please enter your organisation name, if applicable.

• If you are acting on behalf of an organisation please provide name of organisation

A5 Please enter your e-mail address.

• Please enter an email address that the Responsible Person can be contacted on.

A6 Please enter your preferred contact number.

• Please enter a contact number that the Responsible Person can be contacted on.

A7 Please enter your website address, if applicable.

• This could be the building or organisations website address.

Part B: building(s) information

B1 Please enter the building Name

• Please provide building name  

B12 Please enter building address and postcode

• Please provide full address and postcode  

B3 Please enter the building Unique Property Reference Number/s (UPRN)

• Please provide the UPRN for your building. If you do not have a UPRN, please use website www.findmyaddress.co.uk which will provide you with a UPRN.

B4 Please select the Local Authority area that the building is located within.

• i.e Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, Cardiff Council.

B5 Please enter the building height at the floor level of the top storey in metres, if known.

• Height of the building to be measured from the lowest external ground level to the floor level of top storey (not the roof), if known

B6 How many storeys above ground level does the building have?

• Number of storeys are counted above external ground level. This does not include any storeys below ground level such as basement. If the site lends to a split ground level, count storeys above lowest ground level, i.e split level site

Image

Source: https://gov.wales/building-regulations-guidance-part-b-fire-safety 

B7 Please enter the year that construction of the building was completed, if known.

• This is the year the construction of the building was completed.

B8 Provide the name of the developer of the building, if known?

• Developers that constructed the building and or, others that have carried out any retrospective work.

B9 How many flats are there in the building?

• Provide the number of residential flats within the building.

B10 Is the building social, private or mixed tenure?

• Is the tenure of the building social, private or mixed?

B11 Are there any commercial properties located within the building?

• Please state if there are any commercial properties

Part B: cladding

B12 Does the building have external cladding installed?

• Select yes or no

B13 Was the cladding constructed as part of the original construction or fitted retrospectively?

• Is the current cladding on the building/s part of the original construction, or has it been fitted retrospectively as part of a refurbishment since construction of the building/s?

B14 Please enter details of the elements of the external Cladding System installed on the building by making your selections from the drop down lists in each row for as many types of cladding as apply.  For example, if there is one type of external cladding installed on the building, please complete the Cladding Type 1 Row.

Cladding Type 1 - Types of Cladding Material

• What type of material is the cladding

Cladding Type 1 - Extent of Cladding Material Coverage

• What percentage of the building is covered in cladding

Cladding Type 1 - Type of Insulation Material

What type of insulation material is on the building

Part B: identified Issues with the building

B15 Have issues related to building safety already been identified at this property?

• Please inform us if there are any enforcement notices or does the building have a waking watch in place?

B16 If none, what is your rationale for submitting an EoI?

• Please inform us of why you have submitted this EoI?

B17 Is there an existing Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for the building?

• A fire risk assessment should systematically identify all fire related hazards within the premises and evaluate how those hazards may adversely affect the building and its occupants. It should identify the level of risk that those hazards may present and also identify suitable control measures for any significant findings.
• If providing a copy of the FRA for the building please ensure it does not breach any contractual document sharing or confidentiality agreement, before uploading a copy of the FRA.

B18 If you do not have a copy of a previous FRA, please confirm the approximate date the last FRA was carried out on the building.

• Please provide a date for the last known FRA. If you do not know, please put N/A

B19 Is there an existing Cladding Risk Assessment (CRA) for the building?

• The Cladding Risk Assessment will have provided you with a good indication of the hazards associated with the activity, along with the risks and controls you should be thinking about.
• If providing a copy of the CRA for the building please ensure it does not breach any contractual document sharing or confidentiality agreement, before uploading a copy of the CRA.

B20 If you do not have a copy of a previous CRA, please confirm the approximate date the last CRA was carried out on the building.

• Please provide a date for the last known CRA. If you do not know, please put N/A

B21 Are there one or more External Wall System (EWS1) Form(s) for the building?

• An EWS1 form is a form used to record the results of the External Wall Fire Review. Surveys are carried out on the external wall constructions in buildings either with a specific concern, or buildings with a height of 18 metres or more above ground level
• If providing a copy of the EWS1 Form(s) for the building please ensure it does not breach any contractual document sharing or confidentiality agreement, before uploading a copy of the EWS1 Form.

B22 If you do not have a copy of a previous EWS1, please confirm the approximate date the last EWS1 was carried out on the building.

• Please provide a date for the last known FRA. If you do not know, please put N/A

You must submit all FRA, CRA or EWS1 documentation to welshbuildingsafetyfund@gov.wales quoting your unique expression of interest reference. If the below are not available now but are produced during the application process, then they should be submitted to the Welsh Government later.

B23 Have any quotes for the remediation of the external cladding installed on the building been obtained?

• Select yes or no

You must submit all FRA, CRA or EWS1 documentation to welshbuildingsafetyfund@gov.wales quoting your unique expression of interest reference.

If the below are not available now but are produced during the application process, then they should be submitted to Welsh Government later.

B24 Please provide any further information that you think is relevant.

• Please provide any further information regarding the building you think might be relevant?

B25 Have you experienced difficulty securing building insurance cover as a result of identified building safety issues on your building?

• There are two issues with building insurance for high-rise high-risk properties, these are availability (can buildings get quoted for cover) and affordability (price). Select yes or no.

B26 Have you engaged with Lenders / Insurers to identify valuation and insurability risks which could / would be mitigated by remediation works?

• Select yes or no

B27 If you have answered yes to B26, have you carried out any identified remediation works?

• Select yes or no

B28 Do you wish to add another building

• Click yes to add another building (multiple buildings can be added). Click no to continue to Part C

Part C: remediation

C1 Do you or the developer, have any plans to undertake building safety works as part of your current building maintenance schedule?  If so, please could you set these out?

Part D: engaging with residents and leaseholders

D1 Is there an existing resident / leaseholder communication process policy in place

• Is there an existing resident / leaseholder communication process policy in place? This could be regular updates to residents, newsletters etc.

D2 What is your strategy for keeping resident / leaseholder engagement moving forward and how will it encompass this work.

• Please provide if you will prepare a communication strategy for engaging with residents/leaseholders moving forward?

D3 Please inform if any previous liaison has taken place with the developer regarding remediation of the building

• Please provide any previous information from discussions or agreements with the developer regarding remediation of the building.

What does the Welsh Building Safety fund cover?

We are undertaking survey work on behalf of Responsible Owners.  This includes a comprehensive desk based survey, and if appropriate an intrusive fire safety survey of the external walls as well as the common parts and flat entrance doors . The intrusive survey work will enable a report to be produced that identifies fire safety defects present in or on the building and recommended measures that should be taken to address them.

Which buildings are eligible for the Welsh Building Safety fund?

Multi-occupied residential buildings 11m (or above 4 storeys) and over will be eligible for funding.  Please note that typically, 11 metres would represent 4 storeys plus.

Does this apply to both the private and public sectors?

Yes. Multi-occupied residential buildings 11m (or above 4 storeys) and over from both the public and private sectors will be eligible to apply. This includes mixed-use buildings.

How quickly can a fire safety survey be undertaken?

The Welsh Government has procured consultants to undertake survey work.  The desk-based surveys are undertaken straight away, and further intrusive survey work will then be scheduled based on the assessed risk of the building and the required access arrangements.  

How do we apply?

Applications for funding should be made strictly by responsible persons, building owners, managing agents or developers of eligible buildings. The expression of interest will form part of the survey process to identify which buildings require intrusive surveys.

However, if you are unable to identify a responsible person for your building, then please contact the Welsh Building Safety Team mailbox:  welshbuildingsafetyfund@gov.wales