Board decisions you can defend later.

Blockwell gives RTM and RMC boards, and the managing agents who work with them, an independent review of how decisions about the building are made, recorded and followed up. You get a rating for each of twelve governance areas and a plan the board can act on.

Get the free Board Language Guide How the review works
    An example review cover for a fictional board. Each window is one of the twelve areas, coloured by that board's rating. Tap a window to see which area it is.

    For volunteer directors carrying real responsibility

    The Building Safety Act and leasehold reform put more weight on how a board decides and what it can show afterwards. A review is most useful when:

    • The board is new, or has recently taken over management of the building.
    • Fire safety, cladding or remediation work is under way or being planned.
    • A tribunal application, formal complaint or dispute with leaseholders is live or likely.
    • The board and its managing agent have never written down who decides what.

    The Governance Risk Review

    Blockwell reads the board's own records, including minutes, reports, contracts and accounts, and speaks with directors. Each of the twelve areas is rated Red, Amber or Green, with the reasons written down.

    • A written reportAround eight pages, rating all twelve areas and setting out the evidence behind each rating.
    • A board-ready action planEach action, who owns it and when it's due, ready to adopt at your next meeting.
    • A walk-through with the boardWe go through the findings together, in person or by video, so every director understands the next steps.

    A review looks at how the board makes and records its decisions. It is not a fire risk assessment, a building survey or legal advice, and it does not certify the building.

    How it works

    1. Free conversation

      A 30-minute call to hear what's on the board's mind and check a review is the right fit.

    2. Documents

      You send the papers the review needs: recent minutes, the fire risk assessment, accounts, the management agreement and similar records.

    3. Review

      Each area is assessed against the board's own records, with a conversation with one or two directors to fill the gaps.

    4. Report and plan

      You receive the report and action plan, and we go through them together.

    For managing agents

    When it isn't clear who decided something, the managing agent usually takes the blame. A review puts the board's role and the agent's role in writing, which protects both.

    • Commission a review for a client boardAn independent Governance Risk Review the board can trust, with responsibilities between board and agent set out clearly.
    • Review your board reportingA look at your board reports, delegations and evidence trails across a small sample of blocks, so your records stand up to challenge. The fee is agreed in advance and depends on the number of blocks.
    • Refer a board that needs more supportWhen a board needs more governance help than the management agreement covers, Blockwell can provide it without stepping into your role.

    Free: the Board Language Guide

    One page on the words that protect a board in minutes, reports and letters to leaseholders, and the ones that can be used against it later. Directors and managing agents both use it.

    Instead ofThe building is compliant.
    WriteThe board has reviewed the fire risk assessment and recorded its decisions on prioritisation.

    Get the guide

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    Enter an email address in the format name@example.com.

    Ben sends each copy personally, usually within one working day. Your details are used as set out in the privacy notice.

    About Blockwell

    Blockwell Ltd is an independent governance advisory business for residential blocks in England. It was founded by Ben Tribe BSc AssocRICS MTPI, a senior block management professional with 14 years' experience across London, Brighton and Eastbourne.

    Ben has worked at head of department and associate director level, leading teams of property managers. He has managed everything from a 1,000-unit marina estate to prime buildings in Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Mayfair, including Section 20 consultations and major works, service charge budgets and building safety compliance.

    He has worked with many RTM and RMC boards, often as they brought their buildings to a new agent, and has seen first-hand the problems boards inherit: missing records, decisions nobody can explain and responsibilities nobody wrote down. He has also been through a right to manage takeover from the outgoing agent's side, so he knows what an incoming board takes on and what can be lost in the handover.

    The work rests on one idea: a board that has recorded why it decided something is in a far stronger position than one that simply decided it.

    Email enquiries@blockwell.co.uk to talk about your building.