The government has launched a consultation on its new post-Grenfell code for external wall assessments and cladding systems to help surveyors give consistent advice on whether a building needs remedial work or not.

This consultation follows complaints from freeholders and leaseholders of residential towers that assessors were giving stakeholders wildly varied advice on whether cladding would have to be removed or modified.

Remediation work is extremely expensive to complete while also rendering properties within towers difficult or impossible to sell until the work has been completed.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says the new code, which is being developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI), will benefit both residents and building owners.

After the code is finalised following the consultation, it will ensure external wall assessments are carried out to a high and consistent standard, give building owners clarity on the fire risk of the construction of external walls, and provide consistent, risk-based and proportionate advice on whether remediation of the external walls is needed.

“As part of the biggest improvements to building safety standards in 40 years, we are taking firm action to ensure homes and buildings are safer,” says Building Safety Minister Lord Greenhalgh (pictured).

“This includes investing over £5 billion to help protect hundreds of thousands of leaseholders from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes.”

Scott Steedman, Director-General of Standards at BSI, says: “We welcome all comments on the draft standard, especially from people living or working on or in these types of buildings, including residents and people from the construction, fire, housing and safety industries.

The consultation closes on the 20^th May 2021 with the new standard to be published in the Autumn.

Read more about the cladding scandal.