As we all know... the cladding will be gone rather quickly in a fire!
Burning debris falls from Grenfell Tower
FIRMS which refurbished Grenfell Tower knew the cladding would fail in the event of a fire, emails have revealed.
Staff at sub-contractors Harley, which managed the installation of the aluminium composite cladding, said, “as we all know; the ACM will be gone rather quickly in a fire!” in an internal email exchange in March 2015.
The Grenfell Tower inquiry also heard how a worker at fire safety consultants Exova said, “in the event of a fire where external flaming occurred... this would cause the zinc cladding to fail” in an email to the architects Studio E in the same month.
In his reply, Neil Crawford, of Studio E, agreed, adding, “metal cladding always burns and falls off ”. The same day, another Exova staff member wrote: “If significant flames are ejected from the windows, this would lead to failure of the cladding system, with the external surface falling away and exposing the cavity, eliminating the potential for unseen fire spread.”
The emails, revealed on day two of the second phase of the inquiry into the June 2017 blaze in West London – which claimed 72 lives – showed the refurbishment team had “expressly foreseen” the dangers of the cladding system, the inquiry heard.
As we reported yesterday, the inquiry heard on Monday that the firm which made the cladding, US-based Arconic, knew in 2011 the product fell below safety standards.
Yesterday, Craig Orr, representing insulation suppliers Celotex, told the hearing in Central London: “The risk was expressly foreseen by the designers, contractors and fire safety consultants responsible for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment.”
Exova insisted it was “left out” of planning discussions. The ACM PE panels were chosen to save £454,000 by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, the firm’s counsel Michael Douglas told the inquiry. He added: “Exova took no part... in discussions about materials.”
INQUIRY Craig Orr QC