RICS issues warning to members over misuse of credentials

RICS said: “The Institution of Fire Engineers’ (IFE) expulsion of Adam Kiziak, a fire safety engineer carrying out EWS1 assessments, has been widely publicised.

“The lessons of this case for RICS members are that caution should be exercised when agreeing to sign EWS1 forms or to sign off the work of others, to protect against the misuse of credentials.

“Where members and firms are carrying out work under contract with other businesses, they must be alert to any misuse of their professional credentials.”

The group has also reminded members of its rules of conduct and that only people with the required training should be signing off these forms.

The alert comes after two fire engineers accused Mr Kiziak’s firm, Tri Fire, of using their signatures without their knowledge.

Last year, Mr Kiziak was sanctioned by the IFE after he was found to have failed to work with professional competence and to have breached the organisation’s principle of “accuracy and vigour”.

Tri Fire had carried out risk assessments, EWS1 surveys and fire engineering on dozens of buildings.

RICS confirmed to Inside Housing that Mr Kiziak was not a member and had never had any dealings with the body.

The EWS1 form was introduced by RICS after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which killed 72 people. The form confirms the safety of external wall systems in apartment blocks.

Set up to try to unstick the flat sale market, the EWS1 form required all buildings taller than 18 metres to be checked by qualified professionals to see whether dangerous cladding was present. If not present, the building would get a clean bill of health and banks would provide mortgages.

In May, the trade body for financial services updated its guidance for EWS1 forms that have an invalid signature or are over five years old.

UK Finance, which represents around 300 firms, set out that where there is an invalid EWS1 form, the lenders that have agreed to this statement have pledged not to require wholesale reviews of the buildings affected.

The End Our Cladding Scandal campaign group described the news as a step forward, but one that leaves “still too many unanswered questions”.

The update comes after MPs expressed concerns last year over fake signatures being used on EWS1 forms during the sale of homes.

Clive Betts, then chair of the cross-party Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, wrote to RICS and the Fire Industry Association to ask how homebuyers who require an EWS1 form can ensure it is valid.

In his letter, Mr Betts raised concerns that signatures on the forms could be faked and asked for an assessment of the likely scale of the problem and its impact on the process.

This was followed by five MPs in February this year calling for an urgent fraud investigation and an independent inquiry over the “systemic failures” of the EWS1 assessment process, which they said has left thousands of leaseholders in financial limbo.