Fire Safety FAQs

Bellway signed the Building Safety Pledge, which sees Bellway (and other developers who have signed the pledge) commit to:

• Fund, undertake or procure at our own cost as quickly as reasonably possible all necessary remediation or mitigation work to address life-critical fire safety issues arising from design, construction or refurbishment defects on buildings above 11 metres in England which Bellway played a role in developing or refurbishing that have been built by the Group between 5 April 1992 and the 5 April 2022.
• The standard of remediation will be assessed against the PAS methodology and other relevant industry standards to ensure that affected buildings meet a life-critical safety standard; Withdraw any buildings that we have played a role in constructing from the Building Safety Fund and ACM Funds, and reimburse any costs incurred to date by those funds; and Publish the pledge on our website and agree a process with DLUHC for contacting building owners of buildings falling within scope, of the pledge, to agree the steps required to meet its objectives.

After extensive and constructive engagement with Government, Bellway signed the Pledge's Self-Remediation Terms in March 2023.

Bellway signed the Scottish Accord in July 2023, the Self-Remediation Terms are in development by the Scottish Government.In October 2022,

Bellway signed the Welsh Governments Developer Pact and subsequently signed the Self-Remediation Terms (SRT) in May 2023

Where life-critical fire safety issues arising from design, construction or refurbishment defects on buildings above 11 metres which Bellway played a role in developing or refurbishing that have been built by the Group from 5 April 1992 to 5 April 2022 are found, Bellway will fund, undertake or procure at our own cost as quickly as reasonably possible all necessary remediation or mitigation work to bring the building up to the standards of fire safety required. They do not include any additional works which are deemed as betterment i.e. works in addition to those considered necessary for a building to meet the required standard.

Bellway has communicated directly with building owners and/or responsible entities of buildings which are above 11 metres in England and have been built since 5 April 1992. If your building has been identified to fit criteria of works set out in the Building Safety Pledge, your responsible entity will be in touch.

If you are unsure as to whether your building will be covered under this pledge, please speak to your responsible entity in the first instance.

Bellway has communicated directly with building owners and/or responsible entity of buildings which are above 11 metres in England and Wales and have been built since 5 April 1992. In the first instance you should speak to your responsible entity.

Where works are already underway through the BSF, this will continue and Bellway will be cover the costs of these works and will liaise directly with the BSF. Where additional works are required, Bellway may take on responsibility for those additional works should the BSF transfer responsibility to us.

The timescales for the remediation of buildings is dependent on a number of factors – therefore we are unable to provide indicative timescales at this stage. Only when full analysis of any development is completed, can a remediation strategy be implemented and we will be able to provide an indication of timescales at that point.

Bellway will be remediating to the standard as defined in the Self Remediation Terms.

Following changes by the Government, the majority of lenders no longer require EWS1 certification so Bellway will instead provide a Qualifying Assessment written assessment to the Stakeholders including your managing agent, confirming the works have been completed to a tolerable level of risk.

Bellway is liaising with key stakeholders for your development and we have launched this dedicated portal to improve communication with leaseholders and residents.

Bellway signed the Welsh version of the Pledge (known as the Developer’s Pact) on 25 May 2023 and we will be undertaking remediation in line with this agreement.

The industry is currently in discussions with the Scottish Government relating to its Scottish Safer Buildings Accord proposals.

Bellway will provide regular updates as and when we have them through your dedicated resident portal and also through your Managing Agent.

The Self Remediation Terms clearly state the costs which developers must meet relating to necessary life safety works. Anything outside of the legal agreement will not be considered.

Once remediation works start on site, a dedicated Resident Liaison Officer (RLO) will be appointed. They usually represent the Principle Contractor for the works and will be the main point of contact. These details will be provided to residents in due course.

No, your building is outside of the scope of the Self-Remediation Terms agreed with Government. Where buildings remain under warranty, claims for defects or safety issues should be made on the Buildmark Warranty provided through the NHBC.

Yes.

On completion of the fire safety remedial works to your building, the independent Fire Engineer will provide a Qualifying Assessment in accordance with the Standard to confirm that your building now provides for an acceptable fire risk rating.

As set out in the Self Remediation Terms, a Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls (FRAEW) and a Fire Safety Assessment will be obtained through an independent Fire Engineer to ensure the building meets a tolerable level of risk under the standard. We will communicate the plans with the responsible entities for the development, leaseholders, residents and other key stakeholders when they are available, and we will organise meetings of the stakeholders to share our plans.

Where a compliant assessment does not already exist, any Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls (FRAEW)/ Fire Safety Assessment will be undertaken by suitably qualified independent fire engineers appointed by Bellway.

The timescales for the remediation of buildings is dependent on a number of factors – therefore we are unable to provide indicative timescales at this stage. Only when full analysis of any development is completed, can a remediation strategy be implemented and we will be able to provide an indication of timescales at that point.

Bellway’s Building Safety Pledge can be found here.

Bellway is required by the Developer Remediation contract to remediate to the standard as defined within the contract.

This requires a Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls (FRAEW)/ Fire Safety Assessment which will highlight any defects proportionately in accordance with the assessed risk. The remediation will be carried out to an agreed scope of works derived from recommendations made within these surveys.

A Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) is a systematic assessment process, guided by PAS 9980, to evaluate the fire safety of a building's external walls, focusing on potential fire hazards and vulnerabilities.

A Fire Risk Assessment is an assessment process to evaluate the fire safety of the internal communal areas within a building.

Under the Self Remediations Terms agreed with Government, Bellway is not responsible for these costs.

The Golden Thread is the continuous recording of information about a building throughout its fire safety remedial lifecycle. This was introduced following the Grenfell Tower tragedy to ensure that critical fire safety information is maintained and accessible at all times. This involved keeping a digital record of all fire safety-related information about a building, including design, construction, and maintenance details and is available to those responsible for the building.