Latest News Wed, Apr 25, 2018 7:41 AM
Research conducted on behalf of the insurance industry in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire has exposed the utter inadequacy of the laboratory tests currently used to check the fire safety of building materials.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) commissioned the Fire Protection Association (FPA) to carry out a series of carefully controlled experiments recreating more realistic building conditions than those in which the standard tests are done, in an effort to measure what difference these factors could make in the event of a fire.
The real-life factors overlooked by the official testing regime include:
In its submission to the Hackitt review, the ABI called for an end to the use of all but non-combustible materials in construction, and a reformed testing regime that replicates real world conditions to provide genuine evidence of how materials perform in a fire. The results of these latest tests all reinforce the importance of urgent reform.
Huw Evans, Director General of the ABI, said: “Dame Judith Hackitt’s important work post-Grenfell has already recognised the building control system is broken. This latest research is yet more evidence that fundamental reform is needed to keep our homes and commercial premises safe from fire. It is a matter of urgency that we create the right testing regime that properly replicates real world conditions and keeps pace with building innovation and modern design.”
Further tests examining the real-life performance of cavity barriers and the differences made by materials being unrealistically strengthened during the testing process were also carried out and are detailed in the full report. This research has been provided in full to the Dame Judith Hackitt review into building regulations and fire safety, established in the wake of the devastating Grenfell Tower blaze.
Jonathan O’Neill, Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association said: “The results of this important research confirm long-held concerns by many in the fire sector that the current cladding test standard requires urgent review to ensure that systems that pass are reflective of the systems that are installed and of the risks to which they are exposed. We urge BSI (British Standards Institution) to urgently reconvene the group responsible for this standard to consider the results of this research and to make changes to the standard as required.”
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