Cladding Remediation Programme: factsheet

Overview

Cladding on buildings

Cladding generally refers to the external wall system used on some buildings. This can be used to provide thermal insulation, weather resistance or to improve a building’s appearance.

How cladding can be dangerous

Some cladding previously used on buildings contains materials which are highly flammable, and could contribute to a fire spreading widely and rapidly.

What remediation is and why it is necessary

The Grenfell tragedy of 14 June 2017 highlighted that issues of potentially unsafe cladding and other fire safety defects could be present in residential buildings across the UK. The Cladding Remediation Programme was set up with the aim of protecting homeowners and residents of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding in Scotland.

The Programme is committed to ensuring that residential buildings with cladding are assessed to identify whether this presents a fire risk. Following this, work may be needed to eliminate or mitigate these risks depending on their severity (which we refer to as ‘remediation’).

What buildings are within scope

Buildings must meet the definition in the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 to be within the scope of the Programme. A building must meet all of the following criteria to be in scope:

• is a flatted, residential building
• has an external wall system (i.e. cladding)
• is 11 metres or more in height
• was constructed or developed between 1 June 1992 and 1 June 2022

Who will carry out and pay for remediation

We expect that responsible developers will agree to take forward and pay for the assessment and potential remediation of buildings that are within the scope of the Act. However, the Government will take this work forward in cases where a building is not linked to a developer.