Building Fire Remediation Funds

What are the Building Fire Remediation Funds?

In March 2020 the UK Government funded removal of ACM cladding from high-rise buildings was under-way. At this time the UK Government committed a further £4.5bn to the Building Safety Fund (BSF) for removal of unsafe non-ACM cladding on residential and mixed residential use properties that are 18 metres and over and do not meet building safety regulations.

In November 2022, it was announced that the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) would widen the scope of eligible buildings with unsafe cladding to access funding for remediation works down to heights of 11m or more. This new fund also replaced the Building Safety Fund across the UK for buildings above 18m in height. The only exception to this is for buildings above 18m in London which are still in need of remediation - these buildings will continue to access funding through the Building Safety Fund.

Applications to the Cladding Safety Scheme also introduces the requirement for buildings to be assessed by the latest assessment standards, namely a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction (FRAEW) with compliance to PAS 9980 Fire Risk Appraisal methodology. This process was developed to standardise the assessment and help define required standards of fire performance for external walls of high-risk or high-rise buildings.

More recently, the Developer Fund was announced where 52 developers have signed a government pledge to take responsibility for remediating life-critical fire safety defects in buildings over 11 metres in England that they have developed or refurbished in the past 30 years. This includes reimbursing building owners, leaseholders, or the government where costs have already been incurred through the Building Safety Fund.

HOW CAN K SYSTEMS HELP YOU WITH THE BUILDING FIRE REMEDIATION FUNDS?

At K Systems we are keen to help building owners and approved installers during the application and regeneration process. We can offer support in various ways:

• Our variety of high performing systems and finishes with approvals from the BBA, KIWA and the NSAI, alongside our accreditations and full compliance with fire safety regulations
• We have an excellent technical service, which includes façade system design advice and specification development, through to on-site installation support, to ensure quality and reliability
• We offer clients excellent stock holdings as well as a partnership approach with approved installers to aid a smooth installation process with minimal disruption to residents