Cladding
Cladding refers to an external wall covering used on some buildings. Cladding can be used to provide thermal insulation, weather resistance or to improve the appearance of a building.
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, following the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017.
The Programme seeks to do this by creating the approach for assessment of buildings, 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.
- read our cladding remediation factsheet to find out more information about the Programme
- if you are a homeowner or resident you can sign up to receive our regular newsletter and be kept up-to-date about the Programme. You can also read previous editions of our newsletter.
- you can contact us directly via email at CommunicationsCladding@gov.scot
Plan of action on cladding remediation
We have published a renewed plan of action on cladding remediation (March 2025) that sets out how we will increase the pace and breadth of action on cladding across Scotland. In summary this plan sets out the following key actions:
- launching a Single Open Call scheme, open to all
- extending this scheme to cover mitigation and/or remediation works by the end of June 2025
- finalising a ‘Developer Remediation Contract’ with developers, and working with them to accelerate progress with remediation
- continuing to take forward assessment, mitigation and remediation for properties for which the government has taken the lead
- continuing to work with partners to gain a clear picture of the nature and extent of cladding risk across Scotland, and the action being taken
- using this information to make sure that properties at elevated risk are being addressed
- continuing to promote better communication with owners, residents and tenants
We will be updating the plan of action on a quarterly basis, and the next version will be published by the end of June 2025.
Single Open Call
In March 2025 we launched a new scheme for residential property owners, or their representatives, to notify us of their concerns about cladding in their properties. Subject to the height and age of their property, they will be able to apply for government funding for a Single Building Assessment.
We have made £10 million available to fund assessments through this scheme. This offer will be available either until 30 September 2025 or once funding is fully committed. We will keep the number of applications under review and may run further rounds of the open call process.
This offer is open to individual private owners, local authorities, and Registered Social Landlords. Owner(s) will be required to apply through a properly constituted body, such as a factor.
For buildings where the developer has accepted responsibility for its assessment and remediation, it will remain for them to take forward and fund that work.
Programme pilot
The Cladding Remediation Programme was initially in a ‘pilot’ phase, which was primarily focused on the design and testing of the Single Building Assessment process.
Learning from the pilot identified a number of potential barriers, such as delays and blockers to assessing and remediating buildings due to difficulties in obtaining consent from owners and residents.
We have taken steps to address these barriers by bringing forward the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 which commenced on 6 January 2025.
Single Building Assessment
The Single Building Assessment (SBA) is a process to assess the risk to life that is (directly or indirectly) created or made worse by a building’s external wall system.
An SBA will report on what work (if any) is needed to eliminate or mitigate any risks of that kind which it has identified. This may include works that are the responsibility of the homeowners.
An SBA will have to be carried out by a competent, qualified person and meet compliance and assurance standards specified by Scottish Ministers.
Cladding Assurance Register
Once an SBA has been completed, in accordance with the standards, it should be submitted to the government to be entered onto the Cladding Assurance Register. Each entry will note key points from the SBA, such as details of any remedial works identified as being required.
Scottish Ministers must report to Parliament regularly on the content of the Register. It is anticipated the first report will be made in summer 2026 and annually thereafter.
The Register went live on 6 January 2025, and the finalisation of access arrangements is still under discussion. We will announce more details about access in due course.
Further information
- following the Grenfell Tower Fire, legislation was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2022 to ban combustible cladding on high-risk buildings, and the highest risk metal composite cladding material from all buildings. You can read more in our advice note on fire risk in external wall systems in existing multi-storey residential buildings
- we set up a Ministerial Working Group on Mortgage Lending and Cladding in 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 in March 2021.
- in March 2021 Scottish Ministers announced that all recommendations from the Ministerial Working Group would be accepted. This included a commitment to develop the Single Building Assessment, a methodology to assess domestic multi-residential buildings 11 metres and over in Scotland. We established the Cladding Remediation Programme to take forward the design and implementation of this work.
- general information about building standards relating to external cladding is in our building standards technical handbooks
- we regularly publish updated spending information for the Single Building Assessment pilot programme
Stakeholder groups
We have the following stakeholder groups: