Second council using combustible cladding linked to deadly blaze

A second Scottish council is using combustible cladding linked to a deadly London tower-block blaze, The Courier can reveal.

Falkirk Council has 11 high-rise buildings covered with high pressure laminate (HPL), which was blamed for the spread of fire in Lakanal House, where six people died in 2009.

We reported yesterday that Dundee City Council has one block covered in the same type of material.

Six of Falkirk’s blocks of flats use HPL manufactured by Fundermax, which is distributed by Omnis, the same distributor who provided the Grenfell Tower cladding.

At best, HPL materials meet the British equivalent of the European safety class B rating.

The Scottish Government-appointed Building and Fire Safety working group has said any high-rise building should meet the non-combustible European A rating.

Another block, Greenbank Tower, has a combustible external wall insulation system. Manufacturers Swisslab say online: “The system is not classified as ‘non-combustible’.”

A Falkirk Council spokesman said: “High pressure laminate cladding panels, of the type specified, are classed as low risk for a reaction to fire.

“The thermal rock fibre insulation behind the cladding panels is non-combustible meeting the relevant European standards.

“Fire barriers have been installed between adjacent floors, adjacent flats and at window openings to limit fire spread between the rainscreen cladding and the original (non-combustible) structure.”

Six people died in a fire at Lakanal House in south London in 2009.