In October, housing secretary Màiri McAllan invited nine developers with an average operating profit of more than £10 million to sign the Scottish Government’s Developer Remediation Contract.

Ms McAllan said the move aligns with similar obligations on developers elsewhere in the UK and means the process of addressing potentially unsafe cladding will move forward more quickly.

The contract commits developers to arranging safety assessments for all buildings in scope that need to be checked as quickly as possible and providing this list to Scottish Ministers within 30 days of signing the contract.

Developers must also fix all life-critical safety problems in buildings 11 metres or taller that they built or renovated in Scotland over the last 30 years to 1 June 2022, while keeping residents informed throughout the process.

Welcoming Persimmon’s signing of the legally binding contract, Ms McAllan said: “This is a positive step forward in making relevant buildings safer and giving residents confidence in work carried out and I would like to see the remaining developers follow Persimmon’s lead.

“By signing this contract, developers will give reassurance to the people living in these buildings that essential remediation work will progress at pace. 

“Developers who sign the contract will also be required to reimburse taxpayers for funding already spent on remediating buildings they were responsible for.”

Persimmon Homes regional chair John Roocroft said: “Persimmon has consistently taken a proactive, industry-leading approach to building safety, to do the right thing for the residents affected.

“We are pleased to reaffirm this by becoming the first developer to sign the Scottish Government’s Developer Remediation Contract. We are already making good progress in remediating the buildings requiring works and will continue working constructively with the Scottish Government and residents to complete the works as quickly as possible.”