TOWER CLADDING ‘ILLEGAL IN UK’
A minute’s silence for the victims of inferno
THE flammable cladding used on Grenfell Tower is banned, it was claimed yesterday.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said he believed Reynobond PE is outlawed because it is a fire hazard.
But John Cowley, managing director of CEP Architectural Facades, which produced rainscreen panels and windows for Grenfell Tower’s cladding subcontractor Harley Facades Ltd, said: “Reynobond PE is not banned in the UK.
“Current building regulations ® allow its use in both low-rise and high-rise structures.”
Britain will today observe a minute’s silence across the country at 11am. At least 58 people are missing and presumed to have died in the tragedy in north Kensington, west London.
It is claimed Reynobond PE was £2 cheaper per square metre than the other option Reynobond FR, which stands for fire resistant.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hammond said: “My understanding is the cladding in question, this flammable cladding which is banned in Europe and the US, is also banned here.”
Mr Hammond also ruled out making any changes to existing tower blocks, including fitting sprinkler systems, until a public inquiry was completed.
Meanwhile London mayor Sadiq Khan called for old high-rise tower blocks to be demolished.
He said: “It may well be the defining outcome of this tragedy that the worst mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s are systematically torn down.”
A volunteer has claimed Kensington and Chelsea Council is giving survivors just £10 a day to live on. And heartbreaking Father’s Day cards from children who will never see their dads again were left near the burned-out tower yesterday.