By Andrew Mellor
Industry needs aligned and consistent guidance to minimise time, cost and anguish, warns Andrew Mellor
This month the RICS published a public consultation seeking views on the renewed guidance on the production of EWS1 forms.
The EWS1 form was introduced just over a year ago to help the existing housing sales market by providing a more standardised process for assessing the risk of external walls of multi-occupancy residential buildings. The forms were initially intended for use on buildings over 18m but mortgage lenders have been consistently requesting the form for blocks of all heights.
Now the consultation, which closes on January 25 and aims to introduce new guidance in the spring, is proposing that EWS1 forms not be required for buildings over six storeys where there is no cladding or curtain walling and no vertically stacked balconies constructed from combustible materials.