‘Wrong certificate for Grenfell cladding’

A “MATERIALLY wrong” fire certificate was reissued for cladding used on Grenfell Tower, after manufacturers did not co-operate with the awarding body, an inquiry has heard.

The British Board of Agrement (BBA) chased Arconic for more than a year for the details necessary for a regular review of its Reynobond cladding panels.

When this data was not provided, the BBA used publicly available information “already in hands” such as marketing materials and other information that would be available to potential buyers.

The messages were shown as Valentina Amoroso, who managed the review project for the BBA from December 2014, gave evidence to the inquiry into the Grenfell disaster.

Arconic, formerly known as Alcoa, was contacted by multiple staff members at the BBA between October 2013 and January 2015, including being asked to provide information on any changes to the product.

This information was not provided, despite Reynobond’s European fire classification being lower what was stated in the original certificate issued in 2008.

Inquiry lawyer Richard Millett QC asked Ms Amoroso: “Can we agree... that the certificate was or had become materially wrong?” She replied: “Yes.”

Ms Amoroso was asked by inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick why the BBA did not threaten Arconic with not issuing a review certificate, and she said: “In this specific case we were not set up to do surveillances.”

The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 in North Kensington, West London, killed 72 people and injured more than 70 people. Some 223 escaped the blaze. It was the worst UK residential fire since the Second World War.

The inquiry continues today.