Julie James MS, Minister for Climate Change
The Welsh Government’s Building Safety Passport Fund, which was launched on 30 September, enables responsible persons of multi-occupation residential buildings, which are 11m or taller, to gain a clear and reliable survey of any works necessary to restore the fire safety integrity of their building.
Since the launch of the scheme, we have received 248 expressions of interest up to 31 December. The scheme remains open to further expressions of interest.
I am pleased to announce we have finalised the contractual arrangements for surveyors and technical experts to undertake the passport surveys.
Adroit Economic Ltd, a highly experienced consulting firm, which represents a large network of multi-disciplinary industry experts with specific recognised expertise in building survey remediation work, has been appointed and will commence work on 1 March.
This marks an important milestone in the process to remediate identified building safety defects, including cladding and fire safety issues.
Developers have a clear role to play in contributing to addressing safety defects where they exist to protect leaseholders from costs. I am pleased a number of developers have already set aside funds but I continue to believe there is more that can, and should, be done by them.
This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. I intend to make a further statement to the Senedd with an update on our wider building safety work programme in the next month.