Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction

A Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction (FRAEW) is an appraisal carried out by a Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) assessor. The purpose of an FRAEW is to assess the risk to occupants from a fire spreading over or within the external walls of a building, and to decide whether, specific circumstances of a building, warrant remediation or other mitigating measures to address the risk as necessary.

PAS 9980: 2022 (Fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding of existing blocks of flats – Code of practice) applies where the risk is known or suspected to arise from the form of construction used for the external wall build up, such as the presence of combustible materials. BSI states that “The outcome of an FRAEW is intended to inform fire risk assessments of multistorey, multi-occupied residential buildings and other types of building, including student accommodation, sheltered and other specialised housing and buildings converted into flats, where the evacuation strategy will be similar in nature to a purpose-built block of flats”

A copy of Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls and Cladding of Flats - PAS 9980 can be downloaded for free from BSI.

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