The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) was formally announced under the previous name - Medium Rise Scheme (MRS) in November 2022.
The CSS will meet the cost of addressing life safety fire risks associated with cladding on residential buildings over 11m in height (11-18m in London).
The GLA will continue to operate the Building Safety Fund for buildings over 18m in height in the Greater London Area.
The CSS will support applications for buildings where the applicant[footnote 1] is unable to afford to carry out the work themselves or feel that it is not their responsibility to do so. An application for the CSS can be submitted by the person or organisation legally responsible for the building’s external repairs or their representative.
The CSS is part of the wider Building Remediation Portfolio whose objectives include ensuring that residents are safe from risks associated with fire safety.
The first step is to read this guidance, create an account and begin your application.
Once you have set up your account you can add an application for a building. If you have multiple buildings you can set up these applications under one account.
Once you submit the initial application information you will then be able to instruct a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction (FRAEW) from the CSS panel of Fire Risk Assessors. The panel have been trained on the CSS process and requirements, and will ensure it is undertaken in accordance with the PAS9980:2022[footnote 2] methodology and that it’s summarised in an approved format. Further information about a FRAEW can be found here: PAS 9980:2022 Fire Risk Appraisal, BSI.
Once you have applied, you will receive information about the FRAEW process and panel members.
All multi-occupied residential buildings with two or more sets of domestic premises now need the Fire Risk Assessment under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to include an assessment of their external walls. In many cases, this will not need a detailed review of their external walls. It should be obvious to a competent fire risk assessor that the risk of fire spread, particularly in buildings with brick or masonry walls, is sufficiently low that a FRAEW is not needed. In these cases, the fire risk assessor will normally address compliance of external wall construction with the Fire Safety Order as part of the routine Fire Risk Assessment process.
A FRAEW will be needed where the risk is known, or suspected, based on how the walls were built and the materials used. It will also need to be summarised for you using the CSS summary sheet – this will enable you to complete part two of your applications once you are in receipt of the FRAEW. All panel members are trained on this requirement.
Only the person or organisation legally responsible for a building’s external repair and maintenance can accept funding from the CSS via a grant funding agreement. This is also known as the ‘Responsible Entity’.
The Responsible Entity may be:
the building’s freeholder [footnote 4] or head leaseholder
a registered provider of social housing
a management company (whether this operates for commercial gain or is managed by residents for the benefit of residents)
a Right to Manage (RTM) Company [footnote 5] that has primary responsibility for the repair of the property
A Right to Manage Company is a company formed by qualifying leaseholders who manage the building or a self-contained part of a building in line with the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.
An applicant can be the Responsible Entity or their representative. If you are applying as a representative you will be required to submit evidence that you are legally able to act on their behalf. This guidance provides further information for the Responsible Entity or their authorised representative (referred to in this document as the applicant) to help them in making an application.