Evidence-based fire risk appraisals of external walls and cladding — helping owners, residents and lenders understand risk, unlock sales and remortgages, and avoid unnecessary works.
A FRAEW — fire risk appraisal of external walls — is a structured assessment of your building's external wall construction, carried out to PAS 9980:2022. It reviews what the wall is actually made of, how it's likely to behave in a fire, and what risk that presents to the people inside — concluding in a clear risk rating.
An EWS1 is the one-page form valuers and lenders use to summarise that conclusion for mortgage purposes. The FRAEW is the evidence; the EWS1 is the summary.
PAS 9980 is deliberately proportionate. A competent appraisal frequently concludes that a wall presents a tolerable risk without remediation — or that targeted works are enough. That conclusion, properly evidenced, can save leaseholders and building owners from works that were never needed.
Where risk does need addressing, we give practical advice on scope and prioritisation, and can independently review the remedial design.
Related reading: external walls are also within scope of your building's fire risk assessment — the FRAEW is the specialist appraisal that feeds it.
A FRAEW (fire risk appraisal of external walls) is the technical assessment itself, carried out to PAS 9980:2022. It reviews the wall build-up and rates the risk it presents to occupants. An EWS1 is a one-page form used by valuers and lenders to summarise the outcome for mortgage purposes. The FRAEW is the evidence; the EWS1 is the summary. We provide both.
Not always. Lenders no longer require an EWS1 for every building, and many buildings fall outside the criteria. Where a lender or valuer does ask for one, it must be completed by a suitably qualified fire professional, supported by a FRAEW. If you're unsure, send us the building details — we'll tell you honestly whether one is needed.
An EWS1 form is valid for five years from signature, for the whole building — one assessment can support every sale and remortgage in the block during that period, unless the external wall is materially altered.
Only where the records don't tell the full story. PAS 9980 is deliberately proportionate: we start with drawings, specifications and previous reports, inspect from accessible positions, and only open up the wall where the build-up genuinely can't be established another way.
The report explains what drives the rating and what would change it — which may be management measures, targeted works, or fuller remediation. We give practical advice on scope and prioritisation, and can review remedial designs independently. We don't recommend unnecessary works under the guise of compliance.
Send us the building details — we'll tell you honestly what's needed, and what isn't.