13 January 2022

PAS9980 Fire Risk Appraisal Guidance

PAS9980 Fire Risk Appraisal Guidance has been published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) toaday.

The new Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is the long awaited guidance on ‘Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls’ and cladding of multistorey and multi occupied residential buildings.

Today’s publication of PAS9980 follows the announcement by Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, that the government’s Consolidated Advice Note has now been withdrawn.

The Consolidated Advice note, issued in January 2020, called on building owners to assess the risk of cladding systems on all residential blocks, irrespective of height.

PAS9980 and Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW)

The BSI’s new guidance, called PAS9980 provides guidance and good practice, but is not a British Standard. The PAS (Publicly Available Specification) process enables a code of practice to be rapidly developed in order to fulfil an immediate need in industry.

The new guidance comes into effect on the 31st January 2022.

PAS9980 provides a 5 step process for competent building professionals undertaking a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW).

An FRAEW is not intended as an alternative to the EWS1 Form developed by the RICS. It may serve as a suitable report to support an EWS1 form, but not replace it.

PAS9980 Guidance – Is an EWS1 Form required?

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) developed the EWS1 form in December 2019. It provided a method to confirm to valuers and lenders that an external wall system has been assessed by a suitable expert.

The EWS1 form is intended to confirm whether the value of a building is affected by the need for remedial works to the external wall materials.

An EWS1 is not intended to report on the fire risk associated with the makeup of an external wall, as required by PAS9980.

In a statement the RICS welcomed Michael Gove’s announcement on building safety. At the time of writing RICS stated that it would consider the impact on valuation practice carefully with stakeholders.

If you want to explore more articles on cladding, check out our blogs on the Government’s £3.5bn funding to remove dangerous classing, combustible cladding, and EWS1 to Certify Safety of Buildings without cladding.

PAS9980/FRAEW Survey – What makes our service different?

We provide specialist assessment and mitigation advice on buildings that fail to meet the required safety standards.

This service includes the procurement of a specialist design team for the full remediation of the external façade if required. The advice we provide is backed by specific professional indemnity insurance to undertake this work.

To commission an FRAEW survey or Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) please call 020 4534 3130.

Explore our articles on fire safety, including the latest changes for upward extension permitted development.

Fire & Building Safety Services

For further information on FRAEW Surveys, PAS9980 or EWS1 forms please get in touch. For further advice in respect of your obligations as a building owner, developer or manager, please contact :