Cladding
Cladding refers to an external wall covering used on some buildings. A cladding system is the wider cladding system including external materials. Cladding can be used to provide thermal insulation, weather resistance or to improve the appearance of a building.
General information about building standards relating to external cladding is in our Building Standards technical handbooks.
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Background
Following the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017, legislation to ban combustible cladding on high-risk buildings, and the highest risk metal composite cladding material from all buildings, was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 22 April 2022.
Read more in our advice note on fire risk in external wall systems in existing multi-storey residential buildings (December 2022).
A Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding was established on 15 June 2017, to consider the difficulties people experience when trying to buy, sell or remortgage properties in buildings with potentially unsafe external wall cladding. The Group published its final report and recommendations on 19 March 2021.
Scottish Ministers announced that all recommendations from the Ministerial Working Group on Mortgages and Cladding would be accepted. This included a commitment to develop the Single Building Assessment, a methodology to assess domestic multi-residential buildings 11m and over in Scotland. We established the Cladding Remediation Programme to take forward the design and implementation of this work.
Cladding Remediation Programme
The Cladding Remediation Programme aims to protect homeowners and residents by addressing the risks to life and other impacts associated with unsafe external wall cladding systems. The Programme seeks to do this by creating the methodology for assessment of buildings (the Single Building Assessment) and ensuring that works identified to address any relevant risks to life are taken forward. It is anticipated that these actions will also help address the negative impacts which can exist in relation to the buying, selling, remortgaging and insuring of affected properties.
Pilot phase
The Cladding Remediation Programme is currently (September 2024) in a pilot phase. The pilot was primarily focussed on the design and testing of a Single Building Assessment (SBA). We published the Single Building Assessment technical specification on 21 June 2024.
Learning from the pilot identified barriers to remediation, for example delays and blockers to assessment and remediation due to difficulties in obtaining consent from owners and residents. Where barriers have been identified we have taken steps to address these through the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024. The Act was passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament on 14 May 2024 and gained Royal Assent on 21 June 2024.
We publish spending information for the Single Building Assessment pilot programme.
For further information on the SBA process please email: CladdingRemediationProgramme@gov.scot
Single Building Assessment (SBA)
The SBA is an assessment which is carried out by a person authorised by the Scottish Ministers and relates to an ‘in-scope Building’. The SBA assesses and concludes any risk to Human Life that is (directly or indirectly) created or made worse by the buildings external wall system. The report will show what work (if any) is needed to eliminate or mitigate any risk of that kind which is identified. The SBA is carried out in accordance with the standards for the time being specified by the Scottish Ministers and by a person authorised by the Scottish Ministers to carry it out.
Single Building Assessment process
Government led buildings are buildings with no known developer. In this case, we will identify competent suppliers through Scottish Government procurement who will carry out the SBA and identify (if any) recommendations to bring the building to a tolerable level of risk. We will take forward the remediation works by working with design consultants who will work in line with the SBA recommendations.
Developers will take forward the remediation works through working with design consultants who will produce solutions in line with the SBA recommendations.
Cladding Assurance Register
We are working to establish a Cladding Assurance Register.
The Register will include information on buildings which have been through a Single Building Assessment and any remediation which may be required. This will give owners assurance on the status of their buildings, as well as allowing mortgage providers and insurance providers to access information the remediation status of a building.
A building will be entered on the Register on completion of a Single Building Assessment and will be updated when Scottish Ministers are satisfied that any required works have been carried out and completed.
We will provide more information on the Register as this work develops.
Responsible Developers Scheme
Developers must play their part in making safe the buildings that they developed. We expect developers to commit to identifying, assessing and remediating buildings in Scotland as they have done in England and Wales.
The Housing (Cladding Remediation) Scotland Act 2024 gives Scottish Ministers the power to make regulations establishing one or more Responsible Developers Schemes. A Responsible Developers Scheme will help ensure that developers address, or contribute towards addressing, the costs of remediating the buildings they have developed. Developers who are eligible for the Scheme but do not meet their remediation obligations could face consequences. For example, they may be prohibited from carrying out major development and gaining building control sign-off in Scotland, subject to any exceptions.
We continue to work constructively with both Homes for Scotland and developers and will consult ahead of the secondary legislation required to establish the Responsible Developers Scheme.
Stakeholder groups
We have the following stakeholder groups: