The way in which insulation used on Grenfell Tower was sold has been compared to the horse meat scandal of 2013 by one of the architects involved in the project.
Neil Crawford from Studio E, who managed the refurbishment of the building from summer 2014, said he “categorically” did not know that Celotex’s RS5000 and FR5000 insulation products, which were used on the building, did not meet the requirements for limited combustibility as set out in Approved Document B.
Sales literature for RS5000, examined in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry hearing on Monday, claimed that the product was “the first PIR insulation board to successfully test to BS 8414…meet the criteria set out in BR 135 and therefore is acceptable for use in buildings above 18m in height”.
The literature added that the product had Class 0 fire performance “throughout the entire product in accordance with BS 476”.
Crawford said: “Everything in this document to me suggests that the product is appropriate in rainscreen use…in buildings of more than 18m in height. I had no reason to suspect that it wasn’t.”
He added: “In my view, they talk about Class 0 through the whole product which I think is misleading…It’s deliberately misleading. It’s masquerading horse meat as beef lasagne and people bought it.”
Crawford said that after he received the information about the product, he sought to confirm that it was compliant with what he considered to be the “higher fire authority”, fire consultant Exova.
The inquiry continues.
