EWS1 forms are required by lenders for those remortgaging or selling their properties for buildings. While the EWS1 form can be important for those buying and selling a home, especially in taller buildings, the process is not how we determine the safety of a building.
We understand residents are concerned about the time it takes to receive EWS1 forms for their buildings and wanted to provide further clarity on the process:
Why does it take so long?
As you can see from the diagram above it takes two weeks from the resident’s request to get the process started. After this, while we do manage the process the timescale is dependent on various checks that need to be carried out, the availability of specialist contractors to open up walls, and the availability of the fire engineers to assess the walls.
Another factor that has increased the time it takes is the situation around our former contractor, Tri Fire, who we used for many of our EWS1 forms. Due to the actions of their director Adam Kiziak, who was struck off by The Institute of Fire Engineers (IFE), there were questions raised over EWS1 forms provided by them. This meant we have been commissioning new EWS1 forms for those buildings, using a different fire engineering consultant from our supply chain.
Communicating to you
We want to let residents know that we are doing all we can to get your EWS1 forms through as quickly as possible. In the meantime please be assured that your building is safe and that we ensure this via a thorough system of checks, investigations and safeguards carried out by surveyors and building safety experts.
We wrote to all residents living in buildings with a Tri Fire EWS1 earlier this year to explain that we have a programme to replace them, but that some buildings would be instructed later than others if there were no current sales progressing. We will continue communicating with residents regularly about each stage of the process.
There is more information on our website but if you have any questions send them across to ews1enquiries@nhg.org.uk. Please note that we currently have a response time of up to five working days due to the volume of enquiries.
Requesting a replacement EWS1 form
If your building has a Tri Fire EWS1 form and needs a replacement, please contact your property manager as soon as possible.
Once we receive evidence that the transaction is not speculative then we can instruct the new EWS1 form. It’s from that point that the current 14-18 week turnaround time starts.
