Guidance

Guidance: Template Access Agreement to conduct a fire risk assessment on a building covered by the Developer Remediation Contract

Published 3 October 2025

Applies to England

Purpose

1. This document is intended to assist developers who have signed a Developer Remediation Contract (‘the Contract’) with government and Responsible Entities to agree terms on which a developer’s expert assessor may enter a building to undertake a survey or assessment needed under the Contract.

2. This template does not constitute legal advice. Anyone intending to use the template may wish to take independent legal advice and read the accompanying guidance.

3. 53 developers have signed a Contract with the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG). The Contract (available here) requires the developer to determine whether a building falling under the Contract requires remedial works to address life-critical fire safety defects. Developers may use an existing Up-To-Date assessment (typically a Fire Risk Assessment and/or a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls) or carry out their own assessment of the building.

4. If a Developer decides to obtain a new assessment of the building, the Responsible Entity should work with the Participant Developer to arrange rapid access to their building. MHCLG have published further guidance for Responsible Entities on the Developer Remediation Contract.

5. Some developers and Responsible Entities have found it difficult to agree terms for the developer’s assessor to access the building and undertake an assessment. Such disagreements can result in prolonged negotiations and delay vital work to assess and remediate the building. Developers and freeholders expressed interest in having an off-the-shelf template that could avoid delays and save both parties time and money.

6. This template access agreement aims to do this. It reflects work by MHCLG, developers and Responsible Entities, drawing on other access agreements that have been negotiated. This template offers an off-the-shelf agreement that a Responsible Entity and a developer can use with confidence to arrange for an intrusive survey to be carried out in a building and inform a Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls (FRAEW) to be completed.

7. This template is being shared in good faith and without prejudice to help all parties to accelerate work to make homes safe. It is intended to be used as a reasonable starting point for agreeing access to a building. Some terms in the template may need to be adjusted depending on individual circumstances, and parties may wish to seek independent legal advice about doing so. There is no legal requirement to use this template. If a developer and a Responsible Entity have already agreed an access license agreement then the parties may continue to use it.

8. Responsible Entities and developers are expected to work together constructively to reach an agreement over access and while survey work is underway. If issues arise under the template access agreement,  parties should seek to resolve them promptly, in line with the terms of the agreement.

Guidance notes on using the template access agreement

9. These guidance notes are intended to assist parties using the template and to make changes where necessary to reflect the individual circumstances of the building.

10. Parties to the agreement: The template assumes that the freeholder of the building is also the Responsible Entity, with authority to grant access to the developer. In practice, building management arrangements vary, and adjustments may be needed to reflect the specific circumstances of each building. For example, in some buildings, responsibilities for access, maintenance, and day-to-day management may rest with a Resident Management Company (RMC), Right to Manage (RTM) company or a managing agent. Where such entities hold relevant duties or control over the building, it may be appropriate for them to be included as a party to the access agreement. Responsible Entities and Participant Developers should discuss the building’s lease and operational and management structure to identify others with relevant responsibilities and authority to grant the access required and adjust the template if necessary. They should also engage with each other as early as possible to identify any other areas there they need to amend the template license to account for particular circumstances of a building.

11. Scope of the template agreement: This template access agreement grants the developer access to a building for survey work and requires such survey or assessment, and any work is carried out in accordance with law, health and safety legislation (which includes the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015) and with reasonable skill and care. This template may need to be varied to be consistent with requirement set out in leases (for example, it assumes notice of ten working days prior to works starting, which may need to be changed if a given lease or insurance policy requires a longer notice period).

12. Nature of the survey works: The template gives permission for a developer to carry out an intrusive survey and Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls (FRAEW). Should a Participant Developer and freeholder agree that different surveys are needed (for example, an intrusive internal survey rather than a FRAEW), the scope should be varied accordingly, and references to a FRAEW should be replaced with the actual type of survey that will take place.

13. Consents to carry out work: Responsible Entities and developers are expected to work together and share relevant information so that developers may engage early with relevant stakeholders to identify and secure the necessary consents, ensuring that the survey or assessment proceeds lawfully and without undue delay. In the template, the term ‘Consents’ refers to all permissions and approvals that may be required lawfully to commence, carry out, and complete the survey or assessment, and for Responsible Entities to retain and use the survey or assessment documents as part of management, reporting and ownership duties for the building. Such ‘Consents’ may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Planning permissions
• Building regulation approvals
• Bye-law permissions
• Licences and permits from relevant authorities (for example, formal legal authorisations from public or private persons or bodies)
• Utility provider approvals (for example, for access or temporary disconnection)
• Consents under covenants or title restrictions affecting the building
• Permissions from owners or occupiers of adjoining or neighbouring premises (for example, shared accessways or party walls)
• Approvals from Competent Authorities (for example, fire and safety bodies or the Health and Safety Executive)

14. Insurance: The template suggests insurance coverage that the developer or the entity conducting the survey should be required to hold. Parties should however consider the appropriate level of insurance coverage, taking into account the nature, complexity and value of the building and expected survey work, as well as the insurance products available to developers and their supply chain. It will also be expected that Professional Indemnity Insurance, which should usually be held by the entity carrying out the survey work, is maintained for the limitation period of the agreement after work is completed, often 6 or 12 years. Where the survey involves more complex or high-risk investigation works, parties may wish to consider whether additional insurance provisions are appropriate.

15. Building insurance: Where works as part of a survey or assessment are proposed (including opening up and making good), it is important that the building insurance policy is reviewed to identify any relevant conditions or restrictions that may apply to the works. Responsible Entities and their insurers are expected to work collaboratively with the developer to ensure that such conditions and requirements are notified to the developer so that the survey or assessment does not breach those conditions.

16. Costs: The developer is required to cover the costs of obtaining the assessment of a building covered by the Contract. This would include a Responsible Entity’s costs to agree terms of access to a building. All costs incurred must be reasonable, agreed in advance of services being engaged, properly incurred and evidenced. For more information on costs covered by the developer, please see the Developer remediation contract and the Guidance for Responsible Entities: Developer Remediation Contract.

17. Additional provisions that may be required in more complex situations:

• Scaffolding: It is not expected that scaffolding will be required to conduct FRAEW surveys on most buildings, so the template access agreement does not include provisions relating to scaffolding. In specific cases where scaffolding is required to carry out survey work, it would be expected that scaffolding provisions would need to be added into this template.
• Substantial or complex building works needed post-survey: Where a survey or assessment is more detailed or complicated than a usual FRAEW or building assessment, or involves more substantive works as part of the survey or assessment, it may be appropriate to consider adding further terms to the agreement. For example, this could include confirmation that any such works are carried out in accordance with recognised industry standards with regard to acting in a good and workmanlike manner in line with relevant standards and codes of practice, using good quality materials, and avoiding any materials or actions considered ‘deleterious’.

18. Resident engagement: In some circumstances, access to resident and leaseholder properties may be needed to carry out an assessment of the building. Should this be required, developers and Responsible Entities should work together to secure permission from residents and leaseholders, taking into account the terms of leases. It is also important to communicate effectively with residents before, during and on completion of the survey or assessment. Developers and Responsible Entities should work together to ensure that residents receive clear communications that should include timely information about the nature, timing and duration of the planned survey works.

19. Survey or assessment documents: All parties should take care to review the technical documents for the survey or assessment (for example a method statement or specification) to confirm that they are consistent with the terms of the access agreement. This is particularly important where works are more complex or involve specific health and safety, insurance, or reinstatement obligations.

20. Higher-risk buildings: The template does not make provision for works carried out in higher-risk buildings. It is expected that, where necessary, the parties will take legal advice on applicable regulatory requirements and will need to make provision in the licence to address relevant practical considerations.

21. Making good: The template includes a requirement for the developer to ‘make good’ following completion of any works as part of a survey or assessment. This is intended to include the restoration of the property to its original condition, including any decorative finishes and clearing and cleaning the property, particularly where debris may be hazardous or pose a health and safety risk.