10 | JULY 2018
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
GRENFELL – AT WHO’S DOOR
SHOULD WE LAY THE BLAME?
On the 14th June 2017 a fire broke out in the Grenfell Tower which soon turned into
a raging inferno killing 72 of the occupants. The fire burned for a total of 60 hours
before finally being extinguished by fire fighters. Once extinguished, the tower block was
uninhabitable, experts believed the building may collapse so residents from houses near by
were evacuated and the local secondary school was closed and hasn’t been open since.
On the 15th June 2017,
Prime Minister Theresa May
ordered a public inquiry to
determine the facts sur-
rounding the tragedy, Sir
Martin Moore-Bick was
appointed to lead the public
inquiry into the fire on June
27th, he stated at the time
that the investigation would
be “open, transparent and
fair.”
BBC’s Panorama recently
investigated Insulation man-
ufacturer Celotex, who pro-
duced the RS500 insulation
used on the Grenfell Tower,
along with hundreds of oth-
er buildings around the UK.
Marketing material produced
by the company suggest-
ed that the insulation was
suitable for use with other
cladding material, which as
the investigation discovered
is not the case.
Panorama has alleged
that Celotex used a higher
quantity of fire retardant
in RS 5000 when it was
put forward for its fire test
certification than in the
final version of the product
when it went on sale. It was
this fact they allege which
made the insulation highly
flammable especially when
combined with combustible
panels.
The BBC programme also
allege that Celotex targeted
contractors refurbishing
Grenfell and sold them
flammable RS 5000 insula-
tion, knowing it would be
combined with combustible
panels, making it a highly
dangerous combination.
Residents and members
of the public have called
for a ban on combustible
cladding, but Hackitt in
her report stated that it
wasn’t her responsibility to
suggest a ban, but she did
say that the government
could implement a ban.
Housing Secretary, James
Brokenshire said he would
consult on a possible ban
of combustible cladding.
Housing Minister, Domi-
nic Rabb whilst on BBC’s
Question Time programme,
said he was committed to a
ban combustible cladding,
but as yet the government
hasn’t announced a ban.
Though recently the
Housing Minister for Wales,
Rebecca Evans has an-
nounced a ban on the type
of cladding used on Gren-
fell in Wales. She also said,
“The Welsh government
would make the radical and
far reaching reforms to the
regulatory system”.
The Royal Institute of
Building Architects are one
of the national organisa-
tions who are also calling
for a ban on inflammable
cladding.
Some believe that com-
panies may be resistance
towards a ban which is part
of a multi-million-pound
industry and would affect
most installations of rain
screen cladding. There are
approximately 300 tow-
er blocks across the UK
that are currently affected.
Though there is growing
cross party support for a
ban, but the government
in its wisdom has decided
that its not the right time to
place a ban on those prod-
ucts affected.
Another problem that has
been highlighted by the in-
vestigation by Dame Judith
Hackitt was the system of
building inspectors, which
is becoming dominated by
private inspectors. The num-
ber of private inspectors has
grown considerably since
1985 when the then PM
Margret Thatcher privatised
the profession in order to
speed up the process. Now
we’re in a situation where
companies are offering de-
sign and inspection services
under one roof, that they
are no longer independent
from each other. They may
even work in the same
office within the company.
Where there may be a con-
flict of interest. Dame Hack-
itt described the process as
a ‘Race to the Bottom’.
In the last 10 years de-
regulation has continued
at a rapid pace, proposals
to give building inspec-
tors more power has been
ignored by a number of
governments since the pro-
fession was privatised. This
was done because govern-
ments wanted a ‘light touch’
approach. Judith Hackett
described the regulatory
system was not fit for pur-
pose and confirmed there
were deep flaws in the cur-
rent system, leaving it open
for those wanting to take
short cuts. She also stated
in her report that one of the
key issues was indifference,
‘The primary motivation is
to do things as quickly and
cheaply as possible rath-
er than to deliver quality
homes which are safe for
people to live in’.
Dame Hackitt has sug-
gested in her report that
a new more powerful and
independent national body
be set up. The national
body would approve safety
in buildings at the design
stage of construction.
They would then carry
out regular checks during
the rest of the construc-
tion phase. Having more
power would allow them to
punish offenders regardless
whether they are designers,
developers, directors and
builders when a project
goes wrong.
In the aftermath of Gren-
fell, the Association of Brit-
ish Insurers commissioned
a report in to fire safety,
tests were carried out by
the Fire Protection Associa-
tion (FPA). They discovered
that current fire safety tests
were not fit for purpose.