Case study · FRAEW & EWS1 · City of London
A 100-metre-plus façade, assessed and signed off in five working days.
When the owners of One Crown Place, a high-rise mixed-use development on the City fringe, needed a PAS 9980 Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls and an EWS1 outcome at very short notice, McKay Turner Consulting delivered a peer-reviewed Stage 4 report inside a single working week.
The building
A landmark mixed-use development on the edge of the City
One Crown Place, completed in the early 2020s, pairs a commercial podium with two residential towers of around 30 storeys, rising well over 100 metres. It sits firmly in the higher-risk building category.
The envelope is almost entirely factory-made unitised modules: aluminium frames carrying glazing, coloured glass spandrels and terracotta fins, backed by mineral wool insulation. Ground-floor curtain walling and a small area of aluminium rainscreen make up the remainder.
The brief
Very short notice. No room for a provisional answer.
The client needed a current FRAEW following PAS 9980:2022 and a clear EWS1 position, quickly. A building of this height would normally be programmed over several weeks of desk review, opening-up, analysis, drafting and independent review.
The report still had to stand up to lenders, insurers, the fire risk assessor and the Building Safety Regulator, so an interim "subject to further investigation" rating was not an option.
How we did it
Five days, every stage kept intact
Speed came from running the stages in parallel rather than cutting any of them. The desk review started the day we were instructed, so the survey team arrived on site knowing exactly which wall types, cavities and fire-stopping details to open up.
With the primary materials already evidenced as non-combustible, the intrusive survey focused on verification: confirming the as-built construction matched the documentation and that cavity barriers and fire stopping were present and well installed. The chartered fire engineer acting as peer reviewer was briefed from day one.
Instruction & desk review
Scope agreed, existing fire safety and construction records reviewed, survey plan set.
Intrusive survey begins
Façade panels, slab-edge details and cavities opened across podium and towers.
Survey completed
48 hours on site; all three wall systems confirmed.
Analysis & drafting
Wall systems classified and PAS 9980 risk factors scored.
Peer review & issue
Review by a chartered fire engineer; Stage 4 report issued with EWS1 A1.
The outcome
Low risk. No remediation. EWS1 A1.
The Stage 4 FRAEW concluded that the risk to fire life safety from the external walls is Low, with no remediation required. Non-combustible construction, well-installed fire stopping and a robust fire strategy all weighed positively.
The building meets the criteria for EWS1 Option A1, giving the client a definitive position to share with lenders, leaseholders and insurers within the week.
A high-rise façade, an intrusive survey, chartered peer review and a definitive EWS1 outcome, all inside the client's deadline.
Work with us
Need a FRAEW or EWS1 outcome on a tight programme?
McKay Turner Consulting carries out PAS 9980 external wall appraisals, EWS1 assessments and façade fire-safety consultancy for buildings of every height.