What is an EWS1 form?

The short answer

EWS1 is the External Wall Fire Review form (“EWS” stands for external wall system; the “1” is the form number). It is a short standard form on which a suitably qualified professional records the outcome of an assessment of a building's external wall construction and any attachments (balconies, cladding, insulation). Its purpose is narrow: to give valuers and mortgage lenders a consistent way to understand the fire risk of the external walls when deciding whether to lend on a flat.

It is completed once per building — not per flat — and is generally treated as valid for five years, unless something about the building changes. It was introduced in December 2019 by RICS together with UK Finance and the Building Societies Association, in response to lender caution about external wall materials after the Grenfell Tower fire.

What an EWS1 is not

This is the most misunderstood part, and worth being clear about with clients:

• It is not a fire risk assessment — that is a separate, broader duty under fire-safety law.
• It is not a safety certificate and not a statement that a building is “safe” or “unsafe”.
• It is not a guarantee or a warranty, and it does not transfer liability.
• It is not required for every building — whether one is needed depends on the building and the lender's criteria.

It is simply a means of communicating the external-wall position to a lender in a standard format.

Is one even needed? (current status)

EWS1 was a 2019 stop-gap to unblock flat lending after Grenfell, and its scope has narrowed sharply since. After expert advice in 2021 that there is no systemic fire risk in blocks of flats below 18m, the government said EWS1 forms should not be requested for those buildings, and many lenders have reduced or dropped the requirement — recent government data shows an EWS1 (or equivalent) was sought in only a minority of valuations for lower-rise blocks, and very rarely for buildings of four storeys or fewer.

The Building Safety Act 2022, the Fire Safety Act 2021, leaseholder protections, and the shift to PAS 9980 appraisals have all reduced reliance on the form, and RICS itself expects the need for EWS1 to fall away over time. So whether one is required today is driven by the individual lender's policy and the specific building (height, cladding type and amount) — not a blanket height rule. Always check current lender criteria before instructing.

The rating options — A and B

The form records the assessment under one of two routes. Option A is for buildings where the primary external wall materials are of limited combustibility or better; its sub-categories then classify the attachments (balconies and the like):

• A1 — no attachments whose construction includes significant quantities of combustible materials.
• A2 — an appropriate risk assessment of the attachments confirms no remedial works are required.
• A3 — where neither A1 nor A2 applies, so there may be remedial costs for the attachments.

Option B is for buildings where combustible materials are present in the external wall itself, and needs higher fire expertise. There are two outcomes:

• B1 — the fire risk is sufficiently low that no remedial works are required.
• B2 — the fire risk is sufficiently high that remedial (or interim) works are required.

A B2 outcome is the one that typically stalls sales and mortgages until works are planned or done. The point surveyors most often get wrong is the A side: A1/A2/A3 grade the attachments, not the wall — Option A already presumes the wall itself is of limited combustibility.

The FRAEW behind the form

An EWS1 is only the one-page conclusion. Sitting underneath it is the real technical work: a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), now most commonly carried out to PAS 9980:2022 — the published methodology for appraising the fire risk of external wall construction. The FRAEW examines the wall build-up by element (substrate, insulation, cladding, cavity barriers) and the attachments, grades the risk, and sets out any remedial recommendations. The EWS1 form then summarises that conclusion for the lender. Firms offering EWS1 sign-off usually produce the FRAEW that supports it.

Who can complete and sign it

The form must be signed by a suitably qualified and competent professional with the expertise to assess the external wall construction — for example a chartered fire engineer or another professional who can demonstrate the relevant competence — carrying adequate professional indemnity cover for the work. The signatory takes responsibility for the assessment, which is why competence and PI scope matter as much as the conclusion itself.

Competence scales with the route. Option A can be done by a qualified member of a relevant construction-industry body able to identify the wall materials and check cavity barriers — fire-engineering expertise is not necessarily required. Option B needs a chartered or incorporated fire engineer (or equivalent competence); for buildings under 18m, completing the RICS EWS Assessment Training Programme is an additional recognised route. Whoever signs must hold PI cover that specifically extends to external-wall / EWS1 work — a known sticking point in the market.

How SurveyorSuite fits this

The EWS1 template follows the published form — building identification, the assessment route, the A/B option and outcome, the signatory's details and declaration — with the photo and revision-history handling an external-wall assessment needs. You remain the named, competent signatory; the software handles the structure and the record. (A dedicated FRAEW / PAS 9980 template is on our roadmap; today the EWS1 conclusion is captured here.)

See the EWS1 template →