Safety checks ordered in fears over cladding
DOZENS of prominent buildings, including Glasgow Science Centre, are to be inspected amid fears they may contain a similar cladding to that which fuelled the Grenfell Tower blaze.
A total of 38 sites will undergo a series of inspections amid fears they were constructed with “flammable” materials, including insulation.
The safety check will cost as much as £120,000 to complete, with all the buildings owned by economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.
A spokesman for the Glasgow Science Centre say they have already undergone a separate inspection and none of the materials believed to have propagated the Grenfell Tower fire were present.
Lomond Shores in Balloch is among those to be examined, along with Conference House in Edinburgh, Fife Energy Park, and the Alba Innovation Centre in Livingston.
A handful of buildings in East Kilbride, including the James Young Building, also feature along with sites in Stirling, Livingston, Larbert and Gourock.
The news comes as aluminium composite material (ACM) – which has been highlighted as a contributing factor to the loss of life at Grenfell – was discovered in some form in a number of buildings in Scotland.
Last month, the “combustible cladding” was found at 57 highrise properties in Glasgow, though the city council said there was “no suggestion that these buildings are a particular fire risk”.
Scottish Enterprise is current- ly inviting companies to bid for the inspection work, which is estimated to cost no more than £120,000.
A line from the agency’s invitation to tender notice read: “Scottish Enterprise require the testing of all buildings which have been identified as having some form of cladding either on the roofs, or walls or both and to identify the general construction/materials of the building façade and roof and determine if any of the cladding materials including insulation are flammable.”
No one was available from Scottish Enterprise for further comment.
A Scottish Government spokesman added: “The Building and Fire Safety Ministerial Working Group is overseeing a review of building and fire safety regulatory frameworks, and any other relevant matters, in order to help ensure that people are safe in Scotland’s buildings, and make any recommendations for improvement as required.
“The initial focus of the group is high rise domestic buildings. The group will also consider oth- er buildings including housing, NHS estate, schools and prisons. Building owners are responsible for the safety of their own buildings, and would be expected to take action to make them safe.”
Investigators are currently on site at Grenfell, with scaffolding recently put up alongside the housing block so that white sheeting can be put in place, floor-by-floor, to shield it from public view.
Remnants of the cladding system will also be stripped back and taken away for examination by investigators.