Introduced in December 2019, ESW1 forms were developed by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) as a means for building owners to confirm to lenders that external walls of buildings have been assessed by a suitable expert as compliant or to highlight if any works are required to meet fire safety standards. Look Ahead hold these certificates as insurers ask for these for certain types of buildings.
ESW1 forms are not building safety certificates and are not relied upon to evidence building safety.
Look Ahead currently hold 22 EWS1 forms approved by Tri Fire in relation to 22 buildings across our stock of 1000+ properties across London and the South East. Whilst we were concerned and disappointed to learn of the allegations regarding Tri Fire, we would like to reassure residents this does not mean that the buildings holding these certificates are any less safe.
However, to allay any tenant concerns, we are now working with a new independent Fire Engineer to review all building inspections conducted by Tri Fire, and we will complete new inspections where appropriate, as soon as possible.
At Look Ahead, we have a robust approach to fire safety. Maintaining the safety of our buildings and the safety and wellbeing of our tenants is our number one priority.
Central to our approach is our commitment to undertake annual Fire Risk Assessments (FRAs) on all our owned and managed buildings, and External Wall Fire Risk Assessments when instructed to following an FRA. Any actions identified following surveys are proactively monitored with fortnightly updates provided to all stakeholders.
In addition, in line with our regulatory requirements, we report quarterly on cladding and fire remedial actions to the Social Housing Regulator.
We communicate regularly with all tenants regarding fire safety, inducting new tenants into fire safety measures within their buildings, conducting regular fire drills and informing tenants in writing of our fire safety measures and annual fire safety checks programmes.
If as a Look Ahead tenant, you have any concerns or questions, please contact us on freephone 0333 010 4600 or email us at getintouch@lookahead.org.uk. Your query will be forwarded to a member of our Compliance Team, who will be happy to respond and provide you with more details.
For more information about Look Ahead’s fire safety measures, read our customer leaflet.
Where Look Ahead provides support and accommodation in other Landlords buildings, these Landlords should be contacting tenants where they have used the services of Tri Fire and outlining their plans. Look Ahead is also follow up with Landlords and will also continue to follow operational fire and building safety procedures.