Sajid Javid: failures must be understood
Communities secretary Sajid Javid is to set up an independent expert panel to advise the government on any steps that should immediately be taken on fire safety in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire in west London.
Javid told Parliament yesterday: “Building Regulations and the system for ensuring fire safety in buildings have been developed over many decades.
“Until the Grenfell fire many experts would have claimed that system has served us well.
“But now we have witnessed a catastrophic failure, on a scale many thought impossible in 21st century Britain.
“It is clear that this failure must be understood; it must be rectified without delay, and the government is determined to ensure that happens.
“Further details of the panel including its members will be released shortly.”
His announcement comes as the industry demanded more transparency on the combustibility tests being carried out on 600 tower blocks around the country which have similar cladding to that of the Grenfell tower, in which 79 people died when it was engulfed by fire.
“We have witnessed a catastrophic failure, on a scale many thought impossible in 21st century Britain. It is clear that this failure must be understood; it must be rectified without delay, and the government is determined to ensure that happens.”
Sajid Javid
So far, all 75 tower blocks that have been tested across 26 local authorities have failed the combustibility tests being carried out by the BRE. However, building safety experts are concerned the tests are too simplistic to be used to condemn blocks as unsafe.
The government has only confirmed so far that the Building Research Establishment combustibility test has three categories rated 1 to 3.
It is understood that cladding material falling in category two or three is being judged as not meeting the requirements for limited combustibility under the Building Regulations, although the details of what this test involves have not been revealed.
Some industry professionals are concerned that the government has applied the most stringent Building Regulations guidance that only allows materials of limited combustibility or Class A2. But individual building elements do not need to comply with A2 grading if fire tests prove the system as a whole meets the requirements to BS 8414.
Experts have warned that far more comprehensive tests on the entire cladding system are needed to establish whether buildings are at risk, including the insulation and design details such as fire stops.
The concern comes as the manufacturer of the cladding material used at Grenfell Tower announced it was pulling the product from sale worldwide for high rise blocks.
Arconic, formerly called Alcoa, said it would now discontinue global sales of Reynobond PE for use in high-rise applications. This cladding board is composed of flammable polyethylene sandwiched between two aluminium skins.
The cladding panels are a key focus of the police investigation into the rapid spread of fire across the exterior of Grenfell Tower.
The firm also produces a fire-rated aluminium composite material (ACM), Reynobond FR, which uses a fire retardant mineral central core.
A spokesman said: “We believe this is the right decision because of the inconsistency of building codes across the world and issues that have arisen in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy regarding code compliance of cladding systems in the context of buildings’ overall designs.
“We will continue to fully support the authorities as they investigate this tragedy.”
Arconic sold its aluminium panels to Worcester-based Omnis Exteriors, which acted as the “fabricator”, combining the panels with insulation bought from Ipswich-based Celotex to make the cladding. This was then fitted to the Grenfell tower by Harley Facades under a contract for Rydon.
Javid also said he had urged other owners, landlords and managers of private sector residential blocks to consider their own buildings “and we have made the testing facility freely available to them”.
“My department is also working with the Government Property Unit to oversee checks on wider public-sector buildings,” he said.
The minister told MPs: “We have asked all hospitals to conduct additional checks.
“The Education and Skills Funding Agency are contacting all bodies responsible for safety in schools instructing them to carry out immediate checks to identify any buildings which require further investigation. We will have more information this week.
Across the wider government estate 15 buildings have been identified as requiring further investigation.
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