Developer Remediation Contract: guidance for responsible entities

1. This guidance is to support the Responsible Entity – which may be the Freeholder, Managing Agent, Resident Management Company, Right to Manage company or similar – of an 11 metres and over in height building which is covered by the Welsh Government Developer Remediation Contract.

2. It is not intended to cover every aspect of the Developer Remediation Contract. It is provided in good faith and without prejudice to assist Responsible Entities and developers to avoid unnecessary delays in fire safety works in medium and high rise buildings. It is not legal advice, and you should continue to seek independent legal advice as needed. It refers to clauses in the Developer Remediation Contract which is available on gov.wales.

3. A Responsible Entity with legal responsibility for the safety of one or more building of 11 metres and over in height should keep the building(s) safe. For buildings covered by the Developer Remediation Contract, this will typically involve facilitating the fire safety remediation works for which the Participant Developer has accepted responsibility.

4. A constructive working relationship between the Participant Developer, as defined in the developer remediation contract as “the person who entered into that contract with the Welsh Ministers”, and those responsible for the building is key to delivery of a successful remediation project. It supports remediation at pace and to the required standard. This guidance explains the terms of the Developer Remediation Contract to ensure that all parties understand the Participant Developers’ obligations, and to provide guidance on how to work together successfully throughout the project.

5. The following developers have signed the Developer Remediation Contract with the Welsh Government:

Barratt Redrow; Lovell; Vistry & Countryside; Persimmon; McCarthy Stone; Taylor Wimpey; Crest Nicholson; Bellway; Watkin Jones; Lendlease.

6. By signing the contract, the Participant Developer also takes responsibility for works needed to fix buildings constructed or refurbished by other companies in their company group; in this guidance, references to buildings being constructed or refurbished by a Participant Developer also cover work done by other entities in their group. Below is a non-exhaustive summary of some of the responsibilities on Participant Developers that are set out in the Developer Remediation Contract. We encourage you to also review the publicly available Contract linked above as well as seek independent legal advice.

• Participant Developers must take necessary action as set out in the Contract to address life-critical fire-safety defects arising from the design and construction of buildings 11 metres and over in height that they developed or refurbished in Wales over the 30 years prior to 5 April 2022.
• Participant Developers must keep the Responsible Entity in those buildings informed about progress towards meeting this commitment.
• Participant Developers are not required to make additional improvements to the building or to fix issues that arise from poor maintenance or wear and tear. Neither are Participant Developers required to fix issues which arise solely from alterations that have been carried out to the building by third parties, after the original completion date of the building.
• Participant Developers are only required to do work to fix life-critical fire-safety risks covered by the Developer Remediation Contract. If it is considered that additional work is needed, it would need to be unavoidable and necessary to complete the Works and obtain relevant regulatory approvals and final assessments of the building (defined as ‘Qualifying Assessments’) and must meet the definition of being ‘Necessary Betterment Work’ in the Contract.
• The Contract does not generally require Participant Developers to pay for interim fire safety measures (including waking watch costs or costs associated with the installation or maintenance of temporary alarms), increases in insurance premiums, leaseholder compensation.

7. Welsh Government is committed to accelerating the pace of remediation. To support this commitment, developers that signed up to the Developer Remediation Contract have separately committed to accelerate remediation, including targets to:

• have all their buildings assessed by 31 August 2025
• have fire safety works underway or completed at 100% of developments by 31 December 2026.

8. Welsh Government expects those responsible for buildings to act responsibly to ensure defects are fixed as quickly as possible. Responsible Entities of buildings covered by the Developer Remediation Contract are expected to work with developers to facilitate fire safety remediation work. This guidance should be used to enable you to work with your Participant Developer to ensure remediation can progress at pace.

9. Where a building is covered by the Developer Remediation Contract, the Participant Developer should use reasonable endeavours to identify and assess whether the building requires fire safety works to address life-critical fire safety defects that arise from the original design, construction, or refurbishment of the building by the Participant Developer. This assessment process should include consideration of any internal defects that may be identified in a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) for the building, along with defects identified through a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) if that is deemed necessary.

10. When determining whether a building requires works, Participant Developers should use reasonable endeavours to obtain an up-to-date FRA and/or FRAEW and may either choose to use (1) an existing ‘up-to-date FRA and/ or FRAEW, or (2) carry out their own assessment(s) of the building. Please note: 

• up-to-date is defined in the Contract.
• Assessment(s) should follow the PAS9980 standard for external walls, and relevant standards for internal defects. A Fire Risk Assessment that follows the methodology set out in BS9792; Fire Risk Assessment – Housing – Code of Practice,[1] would typically meet this requirement and should be available from the Responsible Person who is responsible for fire safety in the building.
• Participant Developers must ensure that assessments on which they rely are carried out by a suitably experienced, qualified, independent and competent assessor.

11. Building safety standards evolve over time, and this can lead to confusion if there are assessments against different standards for the same building. PAS9980 replaced 2020 Consolidated Advice Note (CAN) on building safety. CAN was withdrawn in January 2022. PAS9980 takes a more proportionate approach to building safety and was developed for competent fire engineers and other building professionals undertaking a FRAEW.

• If you are a Responsible Entity whose building’s external walls were assessed against CAN, then please note that the developer who is responsible for remediating your building is required under the Contract to obtain an assessment against PAS9980. The PAS9980 assessment may find that the required works are different to those previously proposed under the CAN.

12. If the assessment(s) find life-critical fire safety defects which are a result of the original design or construction or from the Participant Developer’s refurbishment of the building, the Participant Developer will be responsible for remediating and/or mitigating them.

13. If the assessment(s) obtained by the Participant Developer leads the Participant Developer to determine that works are not required to your building, the developer is required to submit the assessment(s) to Welsh Government.

14. To support the Participant Developer to assess the need for fire safety works you should:

• Provide the Participant Developer with any relevant existing documents regarding the buildings as soon as possible. This may include any assessments of the building, including the FRA, details of any interim measures, and additional information such as the evacuation strategy.
• Give the Participant Developer access to the building to carry out any necessary further assessment. This is not expected to be a protracted negotiation over an access license and may not always require an access license at all. If you decide that an access agreement is needed, you should make every effort to agree this quickly, including using available draft templates so that fire safety works can start without delay.

15. The Participant Developer is required to cover the costs of obtaining the assessment(s). We expect all parties to work in good faith to ensure the Participant Developer is able to assess the need for fire safety works as quickly as possible.

16. If the Participant Developer is unable to gain access to the building for an assessment or to carry out works, their obligations under the Developer Remediation Contract regarding the building may be suspended until this is resolved. The Participant Developer is not required to pay unreasonable or unusual fees to a third party to secure access.

17. In the case of a dispute regarding access arrangements before a Works Contract has been signed, Welsh Government has published guidance on a process for resolving this quickly. Alternatively, the developer and Responsible Entity can select a mutually acceptable alternative dispute-resolution mechanism. Welsh Government expects parties to work together in good faith to resolve disputes so that life-critical fire safety defects can be mitigated as quickly as possible.

18. Participant Developers must make sure that any assessment on which they rely is carried out by an independent, competent assessor and complies with the relevant standard set out in the Contract terms. Welsh Government regularly audits assessments on which developers rely in order to make sure that they are compliant with the requirements in the Contract. If you have questions or concerns about the assessment process, please contact the Building Safety team at BuildingSafety@gov.wales. We cannot provide legal advice, but we may be able to help you to get the building remediated more quickly.

[1] BS 9792:2025 is a new British Standard for fire risk assessments in housing that replaces the withdrawn PAS 79-2:2020

19. Subject to some exceptions, if the assessment(s) confirm that fire safety works by the Participant Developer are required, the Participant Developer is required to use all reasonable endeavours to agree a Works Contract with you. The requirements in respect of the Works Contract are set out under clause 6.3 of Schedule 1 to the Developer Remediation Contract.

20. The Participant Developer is required to reimburse your reasonable costs to agree the Works Contract. This may include costs of professionals who can advise you on the technical aspects of the proposed works, and legal advice on preparing the Works Contract. For avoidance of doubt, we do not expect reasonable costs to include a full team of professionals who will mirror the technical team appointed by the developer as, given that the developer will be conducting the remediation, we do not deem this to be necessary. The costs incurred must be reasonable, agreed in advance of services being engaged, properly incurred and evidenced, and relate only to the costs of carrying out or completing the works for which the developer is responsible. Welsh Government expects you to work with the developer to agree the Works Contract as soon as you reasonably can.

21. The section above explains the process the Participant Developer is required to go through to assess if a building needs fire safety works under the Developer Remediation Contract. It is possible that the Participant Developer’s assessment or an assessment that you hold may recommend works that that go beyond the defects which the Participant Developer is obligated to remediate under the terms of the Developer Remediation Contract. For example, if a defect is the result of wear and tear or a poor maintenance issue then this will typically fall outside the scope of the Contract. In such cases, you may want to negotiate with the Participant Developer for them to include additional works in their plans, for which you will cover the costs (or arrange for another appropriate party to do so). These types of issues should not block agreement to life-critical fire safety works that the Participant Developer is required to undertake.

22. In the case of a dispute over how the required works will take place before a Works Contract has been signed, Welsh Government has published guidance on a process for resolving this quickly. Alternatively, the developer and Responsible Entity can select a mutually acceptable alternative dispute-resolution mechanism.

23. Insurance cover can cause unnecessary delay to progressing fire safety works. We recommend that the Responsible Entity and Participant Developer (or their brokers) exchange details of building insurance at the earliest opportunity and move quickly to resolve any concerns. It is not acceptable for life-critical works to be delayed due to disagreements over insurance.

Carrying out fire safety works and supporting residents

24. For buildings that have been determined to require works, the Developer Remediation Contract obligates the Participant Developer to keep the Responsible Entity updated on the steps it intends to take to fulfil its obligations to make the building safe. We expect developers and Responsible Entities to work together to make sure that residents and leaseholders are kept informed of progress. All Participant Developers in Wales should have regard to guidance (clause 9.4). The Fire safety remediation of residential buildings in Wales: guidance, which places an expectation on developers to ensure fire safety works are carried out in a manner that minimises disruption to residents.

25. You should work with the developer to provide high quality engagement with residents and leaseholders. The Participant Developer should send you relevant information relating to the remediation work and will likely request that you pass this on. If you are unable or unwilling to do this then the Participant Developer is required to contact the residents and leaseholders directly following a written request, which will in many cases be less efficient. Providing accurate and detailed information will help residents and leaseholders to feel confident that all parties are working together to resolve the situation and will provide reassurance about the planned works. It will also encourage co-operation which may help the works to progress more smoothly. For example, the Participant Developer or their contractor may need to access individual flats to complete some of the assessments or fire safety works, or arrange for the temporary loss of car parking spaces to allow space for equipment or scaffolding.

26. Fire safety works are likely to have a significant impact on the day-to-day lives of residents. You and the Participant Developer are encouraged to abide by the Fire safety remediation of residential buildings in Wales: guidance, which sets out that residents should receive regular, up-to-date communications about the project and meaningful engagement. Responsible Entities and Participant Developers are strongly encouraged to set out clearly how and when residents can expect that engagement, and how it can be delivered most effectively. You are also strongly encouraged to work with the Participant Developer to minimise the disruption to residents during the works. This may involve providing as much certainty as possible about the impact of planned works, where reasonable, offering them a choice of when certain works will take place, and alternative accommodation if required. The Fire safety remediation of residential buildings in Wales: guidance provides guidance on how you can support them during this period.

27. Although high-quality assessments should be carried out before fire safety works commence, it is possible that further defects will be found when fire safety works are underway. If so, you should work with the Participant Developer to determine whether those defects are covered by the Developer Remediation Contract or will need to be funded separately.

28. In most buildings, residents can remain in the building while fire safety works are carried out. If this is not the case, the Participant Developer is required to cover the cost of providing residents with alternative accommodation where reasonably considered necessary.

29. Participant Developers must obtain the usual regulatory approvals for fire safety works, including building control approval and (where applicable) planning approval.

30. On 6 April 2024, local authorities became the sole option of building control authority for all higher-risk buildings in Wales. Generally, if your building is 18 metres in height or over, or has at least 7 storeys or more, and has at least one residential unit, Participant Developers should apply to the local authority for building control approvals when undertaking building fire safety works.

31. More information about higher-risk buildings, including the full definition and which types of buildings are excluded, can be found in the Building Safety Act 2022 Handbook for Wales Design and Construction Phase on gov.wales.

32. In addition to complying with the obligations to secure building control sign-off, the Participant Developer is required to submit a ‘Qualifying Assessment’ to Welsh Government confirming the fire safety work meets the required standards and the risk from life-critical fire safety defects has been reduced to a tolerable level. Welsh Government will audit those assessments. Welsh Government expects that, as good practice, the developer would share all relevant information about the safety of a building with the Responsible Entity.

33. The EWS1 form is a mortgage valuation form that is used by some lenders. It is not a statutory building safety certificate. The Developer Remediation Contract does not place any requirements on Developers in relation to EWS1 forms.

34. Welsh Government regularly monitors developer compliance with the Developer Remediation Contract and publishes data on the remediation progress of residential buildings over 11 metres with fire safety defects in Wales. This includes the progress that each Participant Developer is making. This data is available from the remediation data dashboard.

35. If you are concerned by the performance or conduct of the Participant Developer and have been unable to resolve it with them directly, please consider sharing your concern and details of your building by contacting the Building Safety team at BuildingSafety@gov.wales.

• Fire safety remediation of residential buildings in Wales: guidance | GOV.WALES
• Developer remediation contract: dispute resolution guidance | GOV.WALES
• Developer remediation contract: form | GOV.WALES
• Fire Sector Federation - A guide to choosing a competent Fire Risk Assessor 

Footnotes

[1] BS 9792:2025 is a new British Standard for fire risk assessments in housing that replaces the withdrawn PAS 79-2:2020