Grenfell fallout: The 10 questions that need answers
The Grenfell fire has vindicated many in the fire industry’s worst fears about several longstanding problems.
Not only that, a drip-drip of revelations is revealing a litany of other shortcomings – of the council, firefighting equipment and the government’s response, among others – that have shocked even fire industry insiders.
Here are 10 of the most pressing questions that need satisfactory answers if councils, the government, the construction industry and the fire sector can work together to prevent similar tragedies happening again.
1. Why are cladding tests limited to one type of cladding when several other varieties could be combustible too?
More than 200 cladding samples taken from high-rise tower blocks in 54 local authorities since the Grenfell tragedy have failed tests, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
However, testing has been limited to aluminium composite material panels – those implicated in the Grenfell fire – even though other varieties of cladding may be similarly combustible. Niall Rowan, COO of the Association for Specialist Fire Protection, told The Independent that non-aluminium cladding systems, such as CEP and Carea, would also fail government tests. “I would put money on it,” he said. “They are different materials to the Reynobond but they would all have a similar reaction to fire under the fire test.”
“The Government’s gone chasing after cladding and missing the bigger picture – they are saying: ‘We want limited combustibility,’ but the construction industry has been reading building regulations as Euroclass B for years.” Niall Rowan, COO, ASFP
Rowan also pointed out that the government’s testing scheme has used a more rigourous combustibility grade – ‘A2’ or ‘limited combustibility’ – than stipulated in Approved Document B, which only prescribes class 0 (Euroclass B), a lower threshold.
“The Government’s gone chasing after cladding and missing the bigger picture – they are saying: ‘We want limited combustibility,’ but the construction industry has been reading building regulations as Euroclass B for years.
“This is why we have been pushing for a review of the building regulations for years and why many in the fire sector are very angry because this should not have happened.”
New guidance document on Specialised Housing published by the National Fire Chiefs Council
