Guidance

Building Safety Fund: Glossary of terms

This glossary of terms has been created to aid leaseholders and residents to understand wording used in the Building Safety Fund guidance and Leaseholder and Resident Service.

• From: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Published: 20 January 2022
• Last updated: 28 July 2022 — See all updates

Applies to England

Appeal

BSF 2020 registrants can appeal against DLUHC’s decision to partially or fully reject a BSF application based on eligibility criteria. DLUHC’s appeals team assess appeals.

For BSF 2022, the application process is different, drawing on a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) following the PAS 9980:2022 methodology. The application process will offer the opportunity for applicants to provide additional information and further clarification. If we are unable to assure the FRAEW, this will be detailed in writing along with next steps.

Building Safety Fund (BSF)

The Building Safety Fund (BSF) is a government fund, introduced in 2020, to pay for the remediation of cladding on buildings over 17.7 metres high in England. A building’s responsible entity can apply to the BSF.

The BSF opened for new applications on 28 July 2022.

Cladding systems (ACM and non-ACM)

A cladding system is the outer part of an external wall construction. A cladding system comprises the components attached to the exterior of a building to form the weatherproof covering. A cladding system can include cladding panels, fillers (or the core material of a cladding panel), insulation, membranes, brackets, cavity barriers, flashing, fixings, gaskets and sealants. It normally includes the components from the weather-exposed outer layer through to the sheathing board. It does not include the inner part of an external wall construction such as steel or timber framing systems, insulation installed within the framing system, plasterboard or internal finishes.

ACM refers to Aluminium Composite Materials while non-ACM refers to non-Aluminium Composite Material.

Consolidated Advice Note (CAN)

In January 2020, the government published advice for building owners on the assessment of non-ACM external wall systems. That advice represented the Expert Panel’s position on the action that building owners should take to address the risk of fire spread from unsafe external wall systems.

This Consolidated Advice Note was withdrawn on 10 January 2022 (please refer to Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction for more information).

Delivery partner

The delivery partner is responsible for the administration of BSF applications. In the London area, it’s the Greater London Authority (GLA) and outside of London, it’s Homes England (HE).

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC)

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is the responsible government department, and the decision-making body, for the BSF.

Developer

A person who undertakes or commissions the construction or conversion of a building (or part of a building) with a view to granting or disposing of interests in the building or parts of it.

Economic actor

An economic actor uses the property solely for commercial purposes, e.g. a buy-to-let investor or a commercial entity such as a retail or restaurant owner. An economic actor isn’t necessarily a single person; for instance, it could be a partnership, a family trust or a company.

Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW)

A Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) is undertaken by fire safety professionals. It uses the new PAS 9980:2022 code of practice and means fire safety professionals will be using their expert judgement to assess risk and appropriate mitigations.

Funding agreement

The legal agreement between DLUHC, the delivery partner and the responsible entity, setting out the terms and conditions of funding after the application is approved.

Managing agent

A responsible entity can authorise a managing agent to act on their behalf: apply to the BSF and manage the BSF application on a day-to-day basis. However, they only act on behalf of the responsible entity who retains the legal right to carry out works to address fire risks associated with cladding.

Partial eligibility

One or more (but not all) cladding system(s) on the building have been found to be eligible under the BSF criteria. The BSF 2020 criteria focused on establishing the fire classification of cladding and insulation materials. BSF 2022 draws on PAS 9980:2022 – see below for more information.

Publicly Available Specification (PAS 9980:2022)

A Publicly Available Specification PAS 9980:2022 Fire risk appraisal of external wall construction and cladding of existing blocks of flats, has been developed by the British Standards Institution.

This contains recommendations and guidance tailored to the risks posed by fire spread over external walls; and provides a methodology for a competent professional to carry out a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction (FRAEW).

Responsible entity

This can be the building’s:

• freeholder
• head leaseholder
• right-to-manage company (RTM)
• resident management company (RMC) or
• registered provider of social housing such as a local authority or housing association

Technical eligibility criteria

The responsible entity can receive funding for remediation works only if the building meets the technical criteria for the BSF. Full details can be found in the relevant Building Safety Fund guidance that the responsible entity applies to.

Published 20 January 2022
Last updated 28 July 2022 + show all updates

1. 28 July 2022

   Updated to reflect the reopening of the Building Safety Fund on 28 July 2022.

2. 20 January 2022

   First published.