Housing bosses act over Grenfell fears
The cladding used on the Grenfell Tower block in London has not been used on flats in Rutherglen or Cambuslang, early investigations suggest.
South Lanarkshire Council and West Whitlawburn Housing Cooperative (WWHC) say there is no evidence to suggest the Grenfell Tower cladding has been used on any of their high-rise flats.
Both social landlords spoke out this week after it was suggested the cladding on Grenfell Tower caused the fire to accelerate at a rapid speed.
The blaze, which broke out just before 1am last Wednesday, engulfed all 24 floors and 120 flats within minutes.
South Lanarkshire Council moved to reassure tenants in high rises such as Sherry Heights, Rosebank Tower and Sandford Tower that they are safe.
Daniel Lowe, executive director of housing and technical resources at the council, said: “The council is currently carrying out a review of cladding to high-rise residential blocks.
“However, early indications are that no blocks contain the same type of cladding utilised at Grenfell Tower, London.”
WWHC has already completed a full multi-storey flat fire safety review at its six towers: Arran, Ailsa, Benmore, Bute, Kintore and Roslin.
Paul Farrell, director of the cooperative, said: “The WWHC cladding systems were installed over 10 years ago and were fully compliant with building regulations and planning requirements from the local authority.
“It appears there is early focus on the cladding system in the London tragedy, although it is far too early in the investigation to be certain of the role of the cladding.
“However, our early analysis and understanding is that there are considerable and significant differences in the cladding system used in the London block compared to the WWHC system and this has been confirmed by our installers.
“Incidents of severe fire have occurred in buildings fitted with our system and the system has met the fire performance requirements in all respects. The fire has not propagated and has been fully and successfully contained.”
Around 900 smoke alarms are fitted in WWHC’s six highrise blocks, including two in each of the 432 flats. The alarms are hard-wired and have a battery back-up in case of a power failure.
The alarms, which send a signal back to the central concierge station, are checked every year.
Mr Farrell added: “We recently had a comprehensive independent multi-storey fire risk assessment conducted by specialist consultants, which reported very positively on the WWHC position.
“Tenant safety is paramount and we will continue to act with that in mind and we will consider all recommendations following the public enquiry.”