City hotel and tower flats fail cladding safety test

A Cardiff hotel is one of 12 buildings in south Wales to fail cladding safety tests.

According to a report to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service 206 buildings were inspected following the Grenfell Tower disaster last year, which killed 71 people.

The report said there were “currently 12 buildings of six storeys or more that have failed to meet the limited combustibility requirements of building 110 regulations guidance for their cladding systems”.

Dozens of people died on June 14 last year when the blaze broke out at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in London.

According to this report that fire appeared to be accelerated by the building’s exterior cladding.

Testing revealed widespread use of aluminum composite materials (ACM) which did not meet the limited combustibility requirements of building regulations guidance.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service refused to say which Cardiff hotel had failed the tests but said improvements were ongoing.

A spokeswoman for the service said: “The hotel in question has taken it upon themselves to remove the cladding. They started removing cladding last year and should be finished later on next year.”

Some of the buildings that failed cladding tests belong to Newport City Homes.

The report said they “were the first housing providers to announce a failure during cladding tests on three properties within Newport”, adding: “Newport City Homes have plans to remove and replace the existing cladding systems and install retro-fit sprinklers systems at the three premises and continue to work closely with South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.”

The housing association manages three 11-storey towers in Newport – Hillview Building in Gaer, Greenwood in St Julians, and Milton Court, Ringland.

According to the fire service all of the residents have been informed.