Fire Engineering and Façade Consultancy
Lenders, Investors and Insurers
Technical responses for the real estate investment market.
Connect with Javed on LinkedIn
Done right
Diverse
Excellent
Relevant
“Arcadis looks for ways to earn the next project, not ask for it. You’re good at listening to our challenges and then bringing relevant solutions.”
Asset Repurposing
Digital Services
Digital PMO
Global reach
Opportunity
Greater purpose
Data-driven
LII Services
“Our managers know that if they call Arcadis, it’s going to get done, it’s going to get done right away, and it’s going to get done right.”
“There’s a whole opportunity here to connect sustainability and digital that we haven’t even touched on yet.”
“Being excellent at engineering and helping us work through all of these technical infrastructure challenges is super important but it’s not the only piece of why we work with you. You understand our business, you understand our customers, you have people who live here.”
“Companies that share the same view of how we affect the environment are attractive, but it has to be paired with how they deliver a greater purpose.”
“Arcadis’ ability to bring diverse teams and diverse thoughts is very important to us.”
“I’m a fan of Arcadis. Your global reach gives you strength because we can tap into a pool of knowledge second to none.”
“We are data-driven. Knowledge is power. It’s our first and biggest focus, so anyone that can pull up those stats at the touch of a button when we call and help us make an on-the-spot decision is invaluable.”
Back to top
LII services lines are designed to meet your technical needs at every stage of the asset lifecycle. When all services can be found under one roof efficiency, synergy and opportunity are fostered, the value of which is received by the client. To learn more about our service lines, please select the chosen button.
“Sustainability is now more important than ever. We must stay ahead of where our investors want to go. Climate change and circularity are prominent concerns right now, but we need to start talking about our next challenge around water and biodiversity.”
Sustainability
Develop together
“Construction is labor-intensive, and we’re looking for tools that might help us do a lot with a little. So if you’ve been working on a tool that might be of some benefit, bring it to the table. Introduce us to other partners you work with. Or let’s develop together.”
Discover our 2021-2023 strategy
LII Europe
LII Insights & Analysis
For our UK based clients who are delivering portfolio projects across Europe, LII provide a UK based, single point of contact for multiple project management. Projects are managed or monitored utilising the skill sets and market knowledge of local Arcadis resource and all reporting is channelled to a central digital platform and delivered to you. Please click the map to view our Sector Leads across Europe
LII & Europe
Dimitri Vounatsos
France
Fintan Kenny
Ireland
Roberta Lonetti
Italy
Ana Nieto
Spain & Portugal
Thomas Portmann
Germany
Pieter-Jan Notelteirs
Belgium
Joris Winters
Netherlands
Ross Gissane
UK & Ireland
Click here to learn about our Pan European Technical and Environmental Due Diligence services
LENDERS, INVESTORS AND INSURERS
Bank Monitoring
Mergers and Acquisitions
Pan-European Technical and Environmental Due Diligence
UK & Ireland Technical and Environmental Due Diligence
Investor Monitoring
ESG and Sustainability
Building Surveying
Measured Surveys
Reinstatement Cost Assessment
The Lender, Investor and Insurer (LII) Market Sector of Arcadis are a UK and Ireland based team who specialise in the risks and opportunities associated with the acquisition, operation, development and disposal of assets. Our clients are blue chip companies and institutional investors, and our day-to-day is spent working within the accelerated timelines, specific processes and required returns of the real estate investment sector. As you would expect this requires a flexible, multidisciplinary team. Within LII we have 120+ technical real estate specialists and a further network of nearly 4000 spread across 26 UK and Ireland offices.
LII Introduction
Drawing on that vast network means we have the ability to deliver the absolute best-fit, location specific capability to you. And because we believe in a no noise approach LII will be your single point of contact, always.
LII asset class knowledge and expertise:
Data Centres
Logistics Portfolios
Offices
Student Accomodation
PRS
Hotels
Care Homes
Residential
Connect with Javed Rehman for more information and questions.
Contact us
Account Director Lenders, Investors & Insurers
Javed Rehman
javed.rehman@arcadis.com
+44 7909 915069
United Kingdom
Arcadis. Improving quality of life
Based in Ireland? Click here to visit our Irish team
Marine & Shipping
Maciej Tertelis
Poland
Jan Podzimek
Czech Republic
Arcadis regional offices Resident LII team presence
Heritage
Marine & Shipping Investment Advisory
More News
Webinars
UK Construction Market View
LII Events
Awards
TV & Film Studio Investment
Expert Articles
Could the benefits of ChatGPT transform the construction industry?
Headlines
Read more >
AI and Real-Time Translation: A New Tower of Babel?
Unlocking the Potential: How Large Language Models Are Revolutionising Real Estate Consulting
Expert article by Matt Dickinson, ESG Director
Return to LII Home
LII
A fantastic launch for The Future Living Network this morning at Goldman Sachs' stunning Shoe Lane offices. Our topic, “The Hospitality Influence: Its impact on Residential and Serviced Living” delivered a lively and interesting discussion from our panel which includes Nitin Boodhun, Director, Arcadis Consulting...
Lenders, Investors & Insurers | Investor Monitoring
Nitin Boodhun, Director
Future Living Network: "The Hospitality Influence: Its impact on Residential and Serviced Living”
It is almost 4 years since the devastating Grenfell Tower Fire, however there is still a lack of progress relating to the various cladding issues affecting homes throughout the UK. Although some progress has been made in terms of bans on combustible materials, some funding for the removal of cladding made available...
Lenders, Investors & Insurers
Ross Gissane, Sector Director
What can be learnt from the leaky home’s crisis faced in New Zealand when considering the UK cladding crisis?
From your morning coffee to the mobile phone you use everyday, chances are that the supply chain of these everyday items involved a ship. In fact, according to a United Nations Review of Maritime Transport, in 2016 the global merchant fleet carried 10 billion tonnes of cargo, a new record...
How can the pressure of retailers to meet carbon targets positively impact carbon reduction in shipping?
Understanding of the risks and opportunities relating to Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) is becoming increasingly important to Property Investors. With over a thousand Asset Owners, Investment Managers and Professional Service Partners now signed up to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI)...
ESG and Technical Due Diligence Reporting - the Opportunity
An Englishman’s home is his castle, but what happens when that castle is surrounded by £15bn of potentially unsafe cladding? That is the scale of the crisis we are looking at, with up to 1,700 buildings potentially requiring remediation over the next 10 years...
Unsafe buildings pose big problems that need big solutions
The EWS1 form was first introduced in December 2019, in response to government advice around ensuring the safety of external cladding systems following the Grenfell tragedy. However, since then the process of certification – and indeed the EWS1 form itself - has faced innumerable challenges. From criticism around the speed of assessment…
The market must solve its dreaded EWS1 problem
Following the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government’s announcement of an additional £3.5bn for replacing dangerous cladding, Ross Gissane of Arcadis offers some salient thoughts on the issue...
Safety and sustainability and the cladding crisis
There is a good deal of uncertainty around The Energy Act 2011 and how properties with low EPC ratings can meet the requirements of the Act and the associated cost implications...
The Energy Act 2011 – The Impact on Capex
France has adopted one of the world’s most ambitious regulations for energy efficiency of existing commercial buildings, the Décret Tertiaire. This constitutes a substantial shift that owners and tenants of commercial buildings in France urgently need to proactively address...
Matt Dickinson, Director
Lenders, Investors & Insurers | ESG
Is France leading the way with new energy regulation?
By the end of 2023, the majority of the UK’s new building safety regulatory regime will be in place. In anticipation of the changes, what should real estate investors be doing right now? How can we interpret the possible outcomes and wider consequences of more stringent building safety regulations, not only for our UK-based assets but at a more global level? This episode investigated reputational considerations and the investor conscience, market insight and European investment viewpoint.
The Building Safety Bill. Future-proofing fire safety - what to expect when we do not know what to expect.
Matt Howell-Jones Senior Project Director Arcadis | Residential & Property Team
Pedro Izquierdo Head of Places Arcadis | Buildings Sector
Ross Gissane Sector Director Arcadis | Lenders, Investors & Insurers
It’s highly likely your business is already on the journey to Net Zero Carbon, however in practice what does carbon efficiency look like? Have you considered all the necessary regulatory drivers; your ROI; the reputational implications; and what can you learn from those already successfully navigating the path to NZC? This episode investigated setting Science-Based Targets, when to be concerned with stranded assets and Impacts on asset vacancy and lease length.
Your Journey to Net Zero. Balancing carbon efficiency with dynamic real estate investment.
Matt Dickinson Director Arcadis | Lenders, Investors & Insurers
Abigail Dean Global Head of Strategic Insights Nuveen
Nina Reid Head of Responsible Property Investment M&G
Investors are faced with uncertain terrain in the wake of the cladding crisis. How is institutional investment being affected and how can owners establish blueprints for change while maintaining efficient transactions? This episode investigated how residential and commercial asset classes must position themselves to respond, lender/insurer requirements and how the government grant affected investors and owners.
The Cladding Conundrum - Navigating fire protection in a post-Grenfell age
Sam Greene Associate Technical Director Arcadis Fire Safety Team
Sue Ryan Partner Gowling WLG
Aaron Bailey Head of Real Estate Projects GSA
Arcadis has been honoured with a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, recognising the UK’s Best Places to Work in 2022 ranking 28th out of 50 and 20 companies ahead of the only other direct competitor on the list.
Glass Door Awards 2022
LII were shortlisted for “Legal / Professional Team of the Year - Commercial Property” at the Property Awards in November 2021. The Property Awards, a Property Week event, are the UK’s leading and most prestigious annual awards dedicated to the full spectrum of the commercial property industry, recognising and rewarding the very best companies, teams and individuals.
Property Awards 2021
The road to recovery from COVID-19 has been a rocky one. Strained logistics networks, surging demand for critical global commodities, waning stockpiles, and global inflationary pressures all hit during 2021. The conflict in Ukraine is set to exacerbate material and hydrocarbon shortages, with significant repercussions for global commodity and energy markets...
Andrew Beard
Global Head of Cost & Commercial Management
International Construction Costs 2022
Building surveyors have been widely relied upon for well over a century to assess and report on built assets and during this time, their role has remained relatively consistent. Whilst there are many niche specialisms and output requirements, at the core of the profession is the assessment of a property, considering the condition and provision of a recommendation on what is required to either improve, maintain or repair the property to a satisfactory standard...
Are Building Surveyors, Data Analysts?
The Grenfell Tower fire represents the greatest loss of life from a residential fire in 100 years, and in the immediate aftermath of the fire it quickly became apparent that the building and fire regulatory system needed a complete reform...
In this article, I will consider the various measures which have been introduced in recent years in an effort to improve the safety of high-rise residential buildings, before taking a closer look at whether the new Act goes far enough to provide the desperately needed regulatory framework.
Ross Gissane, Managing Director
A Time for Regulatory Changes: The Building Safety Bill
By its very nature, an investment in real estate is not a fluid investment. This does not mean that investors should not be doing everything they can to improve their liquidity and make themselves as agile as possible in preparing for the sale of their assets.
Property & Investment
Lewis McCormack, Associate
Improving agility in fixed investments - a solution for asset owners to solve a core real-estate investment issue
Within the property industry high-quality data is vital, however for the data to be useful it needs to form a key component within a business strategy. Not only does data need to be collected, but it needs be analysed and actually used, especially when it plays such an important role within environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies.
The importance of high-quality data as part of an ESG strategy
Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire and Dame Judith Hackitt’s subsequent Independent Review of Building Regulations and| Fire Safety, the government was under pressure to introduce robust legislative changes and regulations to tackle the issues identified within high-rise, complex buildings. Following several years of research, the Building Safety Bill achieved royal assent in April 2022.
The Building Safety Act - A Timeline to Compliance
The UKs property and construction industry is undergoing a digital revolution, with the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies at the forefront of this change. IoT could become a powerful tool that can help construction companies, Property Managers, investors and asset managers improve efficiency, reach sustainability targets and improve the overall performance of their buildings.
Mark Lee, Principal Consultant
IoT in Property: Potential to Transform the UK Property Industry?
The increased use of data disclosure is present in many industries, from school inspections and restaurant hygiene reports to nutritional information on food. This carries through to the property industry, with stakeholders increasingly valuing the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. In this article, I take a closer look at the impact increased data is having on various industries, with a focus on PBSA, PRS and hotel buildings.
The impact of ESG information disclosure on PBSA, PRS and hotel buildings
Asset class update on the later living sector - set to be very active in 2023!
Will Newman, Associate
Care Homes / Later Living
GPT4 is the latest generation of a language model that uses artificial intelligence and deep learning to generate human-like text. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way building surveying is conducted by streamlining the process and creating efficiencies.
The potential impact of GPT4 on building surveying
There are many problematic issues within the Irish planning system, with staffing shortages, new policies and objectives causing severe delays within construction commencements. With construction costs spiralling and the cost of borrowing rising as interests’ rates increase, any delay at the planning stage could seriously impact the viability of a development project.
Severe Delays in Irish Planning System Impacting Construction Industry Viability
In July 2019 the Irish government introduced the ‘Planning and Development (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2018, an amendment which made it possible for some commercial properties to be converted into residential units without planning permission. With shops, restaurants, offices, and most recently pubs all included within these regulations, I take a closer look at the success in this article.
Ireland’s commercial to residential conversions – An attractive investment opportunity?
Ireland’s housing crisis is one of the most important social and economic issues facing the country, with the government introducing various measures in an effort to increase housing supply. These key policies include the Vacant Homes Tax (VHT) and the recently announced Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT), which both aim to increase the availability of housing.
The Residential Zoned Land Tax and the Vacant Homes Tax: Will they tackle the housing supply issue?
The complex construction industry is always evolving to improve productivity, efficiency, and costs, with powerful new artificial intelligence (AI) tools and language processing technologies such as ChatGPT providing excellent potential for the construction sector. The following are just some examples of the transformational benefits which I feel could improve everything from project management through to improved decision-making.
I was recently approached by a colleague who in not so many words asked: "How are large language models, like Chat GPT, fundamentally different from previous advancements in data analysis, and why are they more likely to impact the real estate consulting profession?" He had “heard it all before”. Understanding the limited impact AI has had over the years in our industry I can understand why he had this scepticism.
A Bible story that always fascinated me is the one about the Tower of Babel, where God confounded the language of the people who tried to build a tower that would reach the heavens. According to the story, this was the origin of the diversity of languages in the world, and the reason why people could not understand each other.
The road to recovery from COVID-19 has been a rocky one. Strained logistics networks, surging demand for critical global commodities, waning stockpiles, and global inflationary pressures all hit during 2021.
International Construction Costs 2022 report
External Fire Safety and the EWS1 Form: A Faster and Fairer System is Required
ESG and Technical Due Diligence Reporting; the Opportunity
Return to LII Insights & Analysis
LII were shortlisted for “Legal / Professional Team of the Year - Commercial Property” at the Property Awards in November 2021.
The Property Awards, a Property Week event, are the UK’s leading and most prestigious annual awards dedicated to the full spectrum of the commercial property industry, recognising and rewarding the very best companies, teams and individuals.
LII are proud to announce that we have won the RICS “Heritage project” award for our contribution to the Old Library project a Grade II listed community building in Liverpool.
RICS awards 2022
Once again LII have been shortlisted for “Professional Team of the Year - Commercial Property”. The winner will be announced at the Property Awards dinner in June 2022
Property Awards 2022
In 2021 LII launched a series of webinars addressing topical subjects we recognise our clients require guidance on. These episodes offered advice on regulatory drivers, client ROI and reputational implications and were also used by third parties as CPD opportunities to promote competency throughout the industry.
Speakers
The Cladding Conundrum. Navigating fire protection in a post-Grenfell age
March 21, 2021
June 06, 2021
Matt Dickinson Director Arcadis Lenders, Investors & Insurers
November 17, 2021
Matt Howell-Jones Senior Project Director Arcadis Residential & Property Team
Ross Gissane Sector Director Arcadis Lenders, Investors & Insurers
Sam Greene Associate Technical Director Arcadis | Fire Safety Team
Sue Ryan Global Head of Strategic Insights Nuveen
Latest
UK Summer Construction Market View
Disruption caused by the Ukraine War, seen in both material prices and risk allowances has resulted in Arcadis upgrading its inflation forecast for 2022. Inflationary pressures on buildings are expected to peak at 8-10% in London and the regions, with increases of 10% in infrastructure.
We have upgraded our overall tender price forecast for 2021, driven by a combination of ongoing inflationary factors around construction materials and logistics, together with the newly emerging pressures around energy costs. The infrastructure sector in particular is highly exposed to the cost of materials, but demand remains strong with multiple frameworks entering the procurement phase this year.
UK Autumn Construction Market View
Archive
Encouragingly, labour performance seems to continue improving, as evidenced by construction productivity data, which is up by 12% in real terms compared to pre-Covid levels. Enhanced productivity will be a critical safety value in the absence of ready access to migrant labour sources.
UK Spring Construction Market View
Matt Dickinson, Director Lenders, Investors & Insurers | ESG
Key points
Buildings covered - Buildings over 1,000 sqm used for offices, retail, education, health, logistics, hotels and restaurants. Note, the Government has discretion to reduce the floor area threshold at any time. Energy reduction targets - 40% in 2030; 50% in 2040; 60% in 2050 - Your energy reduction objective will be set on the basis of reference-year annual consumption declared on the government platform. The reference year can be any year between 2010 and 2020. Reporting requirements - Annual declaration of energy consumption needs to be reported annually on the government platform. Registrant - The registrant may be the owner, tenant, or third-party service provider. Penalties - Non-compliant owners and tenants are subject to fines and to a name and shame.
Key next steps
Declaration on the government platform – 30th September, 2021 is the deadline for the first upload of data for each qualifying site on to the government platform. Annual consumption reporting - The consumption for each following year must also be declared on the government platform by 30th September. Achievement of the 2030 targets will be verified in 2031 – The action plan progress will be checked each year.
Arcadis Observations
Who is responsible – landlord or tenant? This is an interesting question and responsibility will be determined according to their respective responsibilities governed in the contractual provisions between landlord and tenant. In theory, both are responsible to establish and respect the action plan. The government will sanction both landlord and tenant even if only one of the parties is negligent. We are therefore likely to see clearer demarcation of responsibility in future green lease provisions. Is this Decree realistic? Arcadis has undertaken recent energy surveys and portfolio wide analytics of carbon reduction investment opportunities and whilst the carbon reduction targets are challenging, they are certainly achievable with investment paybacks of less than 10 years. For many assets, there are a number of proven technologies to help achieve the 40% target before the need to address the building fabric, such as:
User behaviour - All too often we see very poor temperature and time set points which can easily be managed. LED upgrades – Typically we see paybacks of 3-5 years. Heat pumps – A viable alternative to fossil fuel heating although still challenging with the relatively cheap cost of gas compared to electricity in France. Photovoltaic renewable electricity generation for use on site – interestingly, Government incentives for PV generated electricity either encourage 100% export of electricity or 100% onsite consumption. So, the new regulation could lead to PV systems sized for onsite consumption only and no export.
For other more “obsolete” assets, a more comprehensive refurbishment including façade upgrade or replacement might be necessary which will require high CAPEX investment. The legislator does accept that consideration for a number of factors can be taken into consideration and could be the basis for a reduction or adjustment of the target such as:
Change in the occupant’s activity or use of the building. Technical constraints, such as architectural or heritage constraints. Excessive length of payback period. Automatic adjustments are made according to year-to-year changes in the climate.
France is certainly leading the way with stringent operational energy use reporting requirement at a building level, but we expect other European countries to follow. There will be no future hiding place for poor actual operational energy performance of individual buildings. Landlords and tenants will have to co-operate more closely than ever to reduce consumption to avoid being named and shamed and its associated damage to corporate reputation. We have already seen the successful of similar transparent reporting of operational energy and carbon use such as the market driven NABERS rating scheme in Australia, which has drastically reduced the energy use and carbon footprint of commercial buildings. We anticipate a similar approach being adopted elsewhere if we are to turn the dial on carbon reduction and achieve our Paris Agreement goals. Matt Dickinson Director of Sustainability and Low Carbon within the Lenders and Investors team at Arcadis
In conclusion
France has adopted one of the world’s most ambitious regulations for energy efficiency of existing commercial buildings, the Décret Tertiaire. This constitutes a substantial shift that owners and tenants of commercial buildings in France urgently need to proactively address. The challenge of reducing energy savings is considerable and should not be underestimated. What makes the regulation different is that it is based on actual energy consumption, not modelled in calculation software such as that used to produce Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) across Europe. As many in the industry will know, actual energy consumption will often significantly outstrip calculated consumption. Background To meet its carbon objectives, most notably as enshrined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, France has adopted a National Low-Carbon Strategy. One important objective is a 60% decrease in the total energy consumption of commercial buildings by 2050, with a 40% decrease to be achieved by 2030. This objective was formalized in French law in 2018. Details on the regulatory mechanism were set in a 2019 decree and followed up in a 2020 ordinance. The upshot is that all owners and tenants of commercial real estate must urgently determine and agree a strategy to meet the stringent new compliance requirements.
Return to Expert Articles
Ross Gissane, Sector Director Lenders, Investors & Insurers
The EWS1 form was first introduced in December 2019, in response to government advice around ensuring the safety of external cladding systems following the Grenfell tragedy. However, since then the process of certification – and indeed the form itself - has faced innumerable challenges. From criticism around the speed of assessment and process of remediation, to a more wide-ranging lack of clarity about when and how the EWS1 form should be applied, the market has been beset with problems. We take a deeper look at the issues: What exactly is the EWS1 form and why is there a problem? The EWS1 form was intended as a way for owners of residential buildings above 18m in height to prove to lenders and valuers that the external cladding had been assessed for fire safety by an expert. The form involves a ‘qualified professional’ conducting an assessment on the external wall system - made up of the outside wall of a residential building, including cladding, insulation, and firebreak systems - before signing one of the two options in the EWS1 form. However, it soon became apparent that requests for the form were significantly extending beyond its original design, both in terms of the height of the building, and it’s use-class. In other words, lenders and valuers were asking for the form to be completed even if a building was lower than 18m, and even if it wasn’t a residential building. The problem is that External Wall Systems can be so complex, it’s not always a straightforward task to determine safety. This can make valuations tricky and, rightly or wrongly, purchasers and/or financers needed to protect their investment by demanding that an EWS1 form be completed, regardless of whether it was legally required or not. Why is increased demand for the EWS1 form an issue? There are a very small number of potential experts that are qualified to issue the form. With growing demand, the market simply hasn’t been able to keep pace. This in turn has had a significant impact on the ability to sell, insure and mortgage residential properties – affecting private tenants, purpose-built student accommodation and the build to rent sectors, to name just a few. We need to unlock the housing market, and these additional hurdles will only threaten viability even further. Hasn’t the Government since changed its guidance though? Although the market had already dictated it, changes in Government advice in January 2020 extended the scope of the EWS1 form, meaning some residential buildings below 18m may now also require a completed EWS1 form. Updated guidance from the RICS aimed to provide further clarity and help individuals decide whether a EWS1 form was required, or not. The intention was to prevent blanket requests for a form in all scenarios, but in practice this additional guidance is too little, too late. The heightened demand to fully understand risks associated with external wall systems means that, for many asset classes, the EWS1 form is now considered a necessity, regardless of building height. Why are there so few qualified assessors, considering the size of the market? The EWS1 form is explicit on the level of qualification and experience required for an individual to complete the exercise. In January 2021, the RICS introduced a training programme for chartered building surveyors to support in assessing external walls in properties below 18m. The intention was to free-up time for Chartered Fire Engineers to concentrate on the more complicated and taller buildings, and create some capacity for the now more widened scope of the EWS1. This is a huge step in the right direction. I’ve been on the course myself and the content, information and expertise are excellent. However, even with more trained surveyors and better guidance on the appropriate application of EWS1, I fear we still won’t see any significant reduction in the backlog of assessments. The EWS1 form noticeably fails to specify a limit on professional indemnity insurance, and this has placed a huge question mark over the whole process. What does this failure to specify a limit on professional indemnity mean from an insurance perspective? It’s a very precarious position. Many professionals are unable to sign the form, simply because they aren’t insured to do so. There is no link between the EWS1 certificate and the surveyor’s own terms and conditions, including any assumptions, exclusions, and limits of liability. In reality, this means that without any exemption from risk, the majority of surveyors would be unable to proceed. Despite many companies large and small having the knowledge and technical abilities to complete the surveys and sign the form, unless the form is aligned with the firm’s own terms and conditions, it becomes too much of a liability risk. Neither large nor small firms will be willing to take this on. Can you give an example of where problems have arisen in practice? I am aware of a management company of a high-rise block of flats who spent roughly £30,000 on a full survey of the entire block, which included analysis of the various fire safety requirements. It was found that none of the fire safety requirements in terms of cladding, fire breaks and compartmentalisation were in place. The management company filed a £10 million claim against the contractor, which is the equivalent of £40,000 per flat. However, the contractor had gone into administration. When it comes to the EWS1 form, if the surveying company had not noted the complete list of issues, the company would then be in the firing line for the £10 million claim and the cost of the £30,000 survey, rather than the contractor being at fault. So, what’s the solution? We need a faster and fairer inspection system. The Government, together with the RICS, has already committed to developing a government backed indemnity scheme for those completing the EWS1 assessment. The aim is to work towards a targeted, government backed PII scheme, which will be made available to those who are unable to secure the required insurance themselves. The Government has already committed to significant financial support to help rectify dangerous external wall systems. However, this is limited purely to the cladding itself. Providing the wider level of coverage associated with a PII scheme will have a significantly higher cost implication. With eligibility and the claims process yet to be decided, it’s still unclear where this funding will come from. Ultimately, the process of obtaining an EWS1 form is still too slow and too expensive, with assessments applied unnecessarily to a wide range of buildings. Unless a fairer system is implemented, which aligns with surveyors’ own terms and conditions of liability, we’re unlikely to see the number of qualified assessors reaching the levels required. One quick fix would be to enable the EWS1 form to link to a formalised engagement process, offering protection for all parties. Currently, there is a lack of accountability, which can be seen reflected in all aspects of the cladding crisis. We need more transparency, and clearer guidance with less room for interpretation. Finally, unless more funding becomes available, the market is facing a very real crisis. Leaseholders could potentially be looking at large bills and trapped in unsellable flats for years, while the industry tries to find a resolution. Ross Gissane, Director of Lenders and Investors at Arcadis
THIS PAGE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION
COMING SOON
STAY TUNED!
< Back to Homepage
< Back to LII Insights & Analysis
