Grenfell’s refit had ‘catalogue of major errors’
A FIRE safety expert told the Grenfell Tower inquiry yesterday of a catalogue of serious errors made during refurbishment of the doomed block.
Barbara Lane said builders had breached guidelines by fitting combustible material around the 24-storey building.
A “cavity barrier” used to prevent flames spreading between floors had also been badly installed.
She told Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s hearing that material around the windows and the cladding system was flammable.
The refit was overseen by the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation and contractor Rydon between 2012 and 2016.
Dr Lane, a chartered fire safety engineer, said building regulations say any material used on a structure more than 60ft high should be of “limited combustibility”.
She said the block in North Kensington, west London, was originally built with walls that were “entirely non-combustible”.
However, work done on the lifts in 2005 and 2012-16 also left them unfit for evacuation of the building of vulnerable residents and to aid the emergency response.
They lacked features including an escape hatch, a secondary power supply or doors that can resist a fire for 60 minutes, as outlined in the building regulations.
Seventy-two people were killed when flames tore through the tower in the early hours of June 14 last year.
The dry rise system, used by firefighters to pump water into the 220ft building, was also said to go against statutory guidance. It has a loss of effectiveness above 165ft.
A wet mains system with a pressurised tank within the building for the upper floors should have been fitted. “There is a requirement to provide a wet fire main,” Dr Lane said.
A gas pipe running from the basement throughout the building was installed in 2016 and remained exposed at key points during the fire.
Dr Lane’s report added that all of the flat’s entrance fire doors did not meet building regulation standards.