Successfully Securing Building Safety Funding

by Innovus on 24 October 2023

building-safety-team-expertise

The Challenge  

Innovus identified several building safety issues at a residential development in Leeds. The issues included combustible copper cladding to the external wall, compartmentation issues, and missing cavity barriers.  

We gathered the supporting information required to register the building into the Building Safety Fund to meet the funding deadlines. However, the building was rejected at the application stage.  

This would mean that the cost to remediate the building would have fallen to the leaseholders of the building.  

Innovus Director of Building Remediation Sara Davies says: “Due to the structural make up of the building and its obscure shape, it was reassessed against Annexe B of the Building Regulations for the height criteria. The Building Safety Fund was reopening and we felt that there was a further opportunity to look to obtain Government funding by assessing the building against the newly introduced PAS 9980 via a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall.” 

The Solution  

We obtained a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Walls (FRAEW) to further establish the safety risks to the building. The appraisal was carried out in accordance with the PAS9980 guidance, which sets out the steps that can be taken to identify and assess risk factors as well as mitigation steps that might improve the risk rating of a building. Following these findings, we were able to make an application to tranche two of the Building Safety Fund.  

The Result  

The building was accepted and the remediation work will be funded by the Building Safety Fund. 

Sara adds: “We were able to use the FRAEW as well as additional sourced information to successfully register the building into tranche two of the Building Safety Fund. Our Building Safety Team has over 65 combined years of property industry experience and are at the forefront of evolving regulation. This means we can effectively guide clients through the various funding routes, so homes are safe to live in.”