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Owners and Landlords

EWS1 Forms, Single Building Assessments and Your Roof in Scotland

Why mortgage lenders ask for an EWS1, how Scotland’s Single Building Assessment is set to take its place under the cladding remediation programme, and why owners should think about the roof as well as the walls.

What is an EWS1 form and why do lenders want one?

An EWS1 form is a standard way of confirming to lenders and valuers that the external wall system of a residential building has been assessed by a suitable expert. It was developed by RICS with UK Finance and the Building Societies Association.1 In Scotland it is not a government or legal requirement, but valuers and lenders use it when deciding whether to lend on a flat in a building with cladding.1 The Scottish Government’s aim is for the Single Building Assessment to take over that role.1

How an EWS1 works

RICS, the professional body for chartered surveyors, explains that the EWS1 is not a life safety certificate. Its purpose is to show whether remediation costs might affect a property’s value.2 The form gives one of these outcomes:2

  • Option A: the external wall materials are unlikely to support combustion (with sub-ratings A1 to A3).
  • Option B1: combustible materials are present, but the fire risk is low enough that no remedial work is needed.
  • Option B2: the fire risk is high enough that remedial work is needed.

RICS says an EWS1 covers the whole building and is valid for five years. Only suitably qualified professionals can sign one, with fire engineers needed for taller or higher risk buildings.2

What is a Single Building Assessment (SBA)?

The Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 defines a single building assessment as an assessment of a flatted building of at least 11 metres, built between 1 June 1992 and 1 June 2022, with an external wall cladding system. It must assess any risk to human life that is directly or indirectly created or exacerbated by that cladding system, and identify the work needed to deal with it.3

An SBA is one assessment of the whole building, rather than separate checks paid for by individual owners.4 The Scottish Government’s specification describes it as a “holistic” risk based approach with two parts:5

  • A Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), using the PAS 9980 method, looking at the risk of fire spreading over or within the external wall system.
  • A Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) of the building’s internal common areas, looking at the fire safety measures needed to protect residents.

The specification expects assessors to judge where parts of the wall need to be opened up and samples taken, so an SBA can involve intrusive investigation, not just a visual check.5 The external wall covers everything from the internal lining to the outer face, and attachments such as balconies, balcony walkways, solar panels and solar shading.6

How the SBA is set to replace the EWS1

The Scottish Government has said it wants SBA outputs to replace the EWS1 for individual flats, and has committed to working with valuers and lenders so the SBA gives equivalent information for lending decisions. It has also said an EWS1 is expected to remain available where owners do not go through the SBA route.1 In practice, whether a particular lender will accept an SBA in place of an EWS1 is a matter for that lender, so owners selling or remortgaging should check with their lender or broker.

The Act and the developer remediation contract

The 2024 Act gives Scottish Ministers powers to assess buildings and arrange remediation work, creates a Cladding Assurance Register, and provides for a Responsible Developers Scheme.7 Alongside the Act, the Scottish Government published the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord developer remediation contract in November 2025, and the first developer signed it in December 2025.8 Developers who sign commit to identify and assess buildings in scope that they developed or refurbished in Scotland over the 30 years ending on 1 June 2022, and to carry out the remediation identified through the SBA to deal with any risk to human life created or exacerbated by the building’s external wall cladding system.9

Why the roof matters

The specification does not list roof coverings as a separate item to be assessed. The roof may still come into an SBA where it connects with the fire risk from the external walls, for example where wall cavities meet the roof or where equipment such as solar panels is attached, and assessors may note other things they see while on site.6

The important point for owners is the scope of the funding. Both the Act’s definition of an SBA and the developer contract are tied to risk to human life created or exacerbated by the external wall cladding system.39 A worn out roof, slipped slates, failed flashings or a leaking roof that has nothing to do with the cladding fire risk is therefore unlikely to be paid for by the developer or the Scottish Government programme. Those repairs stay with the owners. In a tenement, unless the title deeds say otherwise, the roof is shared scheme property under the Tenement Management Scheme, so owners decide and pay for repairs together.10

If an SBA report or a surveyor records a roof defect, it is worth dealing with it promptly, both to protect the building and because a recorded, unresolved defect may be picked up by future buyers, surveyors or lenders. Our tenement shared repairs guide explains how owners can organise shared roof repairs.

This page is general information, not legal or financial advice on a particular building or mortgage.

Roof defect flagged in a survey?

Email us photos of the roof and what floor it’s on, or how many levels up it is, and we’ll tell you what we need to give you a price.

How to contact us

Sources

  1. Scottish Government, Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding: questions answered, ‘EWS1 for buying, selling and remortgaging’. gov.scot
  2. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, ‘Cladding External Wall System (EWS) FAQs’. rics.org
  3. Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024, s 32. legislation.gov.uk
  4. Scottish Government, Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding: questions answered, ‘Single building assessments’. gov.scot
  5. Scottish Government, Cladding Remediation Programme: Single Building Assessment Specification, s 2 (Purpose of document). gov.scot
  6. Scottish Government, Cladding Remediation Programme: Single Building Assessment Specification, s 3 (Assessing external wall construction). gov.scot
  7. Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024, pts 1, 2 and 5. legislation.gov.uk
  8. Scottish Government, ‘First developer signs contract for cladding remediation’ (23 December 2025). gov.scot
  9. Scottish Government, Scottish Safer Buildings Accord: Developer Remediation Contract (21 November 2025). gov.scot
  10. Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, sch 1 (Tenement Management Scheme), r 1.2. legislation.gov.uk