FRAEW Cannon Wharf: External Wall Fire Risk Assessment in Norwich
Anstey Horne carried out a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) at Cannon Wharf, a seven-storey residential building in Norwich. The Right to Manage company and its managing agent needed a reliable assessment after earlier surveys had caused cost and disruption without giving them a clear basis for decisions. Our work established the external wall risk, identified a proportionate remediation strategy and supported the route towards funding and delivery.
The challenge at Cannon Wharf
The client needed to understand what the external walls contained and how those materials affected fire spread. Previous investigations had not provided enough evidence to quantify the risk or support a funding application. Repeating intrusive work without a clear purpose would have added further inconvenience for residents and delayed action.
The FRAEW Cannon Wharf commission therefore began with a review of the information already available. Our team assessed the earlier survey findings, identified the gaps and planned targeted investigations to establish the wall construction. Throughout the process, we worked with the managing agent and Right to Manage directors to explain why additional openings were needed and how the team would manage access to occupied homes.
Our FRAEW approach
Anstey Horne completed the appraisal using the PAS 9980 methodology. We specified and oversaw intrusive investigations to check the external wall build-ups and fire-stopping arrangements. These checks gave the team direct evidence about the materials in the façade and the way different elements connected.
That evidence mattered because the choice of remediation depended on the actual construction, not simply the appearance of the cladding. It enabled us to distinguish between materials that presented the principal external fire spread hazard and elements whose removal would require much more extensive work inside the building.
Our investigations found expanded polystyrene, timber and high-pressure laminate cladding within the external wall system. We also identified insufficient fire breaks and structurally insulated panels containing combustible insulation within the structural wall build-up. Taken together, these findings indicated an elevated potential for external fire spread and smoke transfer. We assessed Cannon Wharf as high risk under the PAS 9980 appraisal.
A proportionate remediation strategy
The findings required action, but the team also had to consider how the works would affect residents. Removing every combustible element would have involved substantial structural intervention and could have required large numbers of leaseholders to leave their homes temporarily.
We proposed replacing the combustible cladding and insulation that presented the primary external fire spread hazard, while retaining and encapsulating the inner structurally insulated panels. This strategy targeted the identified risk and offered a practical route to remediation that limited the need for resident decanting. The FRAEW Cannon Wharf findings provided the evidence needed to explain why that approach was appropriate for this building.
Funding and next steps
Anstey Horne supported the managing agent with evidence for a Building Safety Fund application. As the funding arrangements for the project changed, we continued to work with the Cladding Safety Scheme. Our remediation team then took the project forward from appraisal into the delivery stage, maintaining continuity between the technical findings and the proposed works.
The work at Cannon Wharf gave the client and residents something the earlier investigations had not: a clear account of the external wall construction, an evidenced risk rating and a defined course of action. It also showed why careful investigation at the outset can help avoid unnecessary work and focus resources on the measures that address the identified risk.
Anstey Horne’s FRAEW Cannon Wharf appointment combined technical appraisal, resident communication and funding support to move a complex fire safety issue towards practical resolution.
