Grenfell cladding suspended
The Government has suspended the certificates of six types of aluminium panels similar to those that combusted during Britain’s Grenfell Tower fire.
The residential high-rise in London was destroyed by the blaze, and 72 people were killed.
Illegal materials used to clad the building were the cause of the fire.
Similar cladding has been found in New Zealand buildings.
The six types of polyethylene core aluminium composite panels (ACP) – used as insulating cladding – have had their CodeMark certificates suspended, meaning they cannot be used as a building material without going through a separate consenting process.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) stressed that it had not found these panels to be dangerous yet but was unhappy with the amount of evidence produced by these manufacturers to make clear the products were safe.
‘‘This work was not intended to identify specific safety concerns with ACP cladding, rather to identify if there was sufficient documentation with ACP CodeMark certificates,’’ acting building system assurance manager Paul Hobbs said.
‘‘The expert advice found that there was insufficient documentation to support six CodeMark certificates, and manufacturers have been unable to satisfy the evidence-based requirements outlined by MBIE to support claims made in the CodeMark certificates.
‘‘This process has not unearthed evidence that these products are dangerous, only that their use needs to be considered on a caseby-case basis by building consent authorities [BCAs] when considering a building consent,’’ Hobbs added.
‘‘This process has not unearthed evidence that these products are dangerous.’’
Paul Hobbs