A leaked report into
the causes of last year’s Grenfell Tower fire by the Building Research
Establishment (BRE) has alleged major problems in the building’s refurbishment
in 2016.
Seventy-one
residents died during the fire and the BRE report submitted to the Metropolitan
Police's criminal investigation - carried in full by the Evening Standard - has
highlighted five significant issues in the refurbishment work.
Grenfell Tower
underwent an £8.6m refurbishment, completed in May 2016, which included
recladding the building in panels of Arconic's Reynolux coated aluminium sheets
with a Reynobond polyethylene (PE) core. Celotex supplied RS5000 insulation.
The refurbishment
was carried out by Rydon Maintenance for Kensington & Chelsea Tenant
Management Organisation and approved by Royal Borough of Kensington &
Chelsea building control.
According to the Evening Standard, the BRE report has
identified five significant breaches of building regulations that appear
directly implicated in the loss of life:
1. The cavity
barriers, which in the event of fire are meant to expand and seal the gap
between the concrete surface of the building and the cladding insulation, were
of “insufficient size specification” to be effective. Some cavity barriers were
installed upside down or back to front, further retarding their effectiveness.
The chosen cavity barriers were designed to close a gap of 25mm but the actual
gap was up to 50mm. This failure provided a route for fire to spread.
2. The window frames
were 150mm narrower than the gap between the concrete surfaces of the columns.
Spaces were filled by a rubberised membrane, rigid foam insulation and uPVC
lightweight plastic panels incapable of providing 30 minutes fire resistance, providing
fuel for, rather than a barrier to, the fire.
3. The insulation
used was combustible and provided a medium for fire spread up, across and
within sections of the facade.
4. The aluminium
composite material used in the facade had a highly combustible polyethylene
core.
5. Many flats had no
door closers on their front doors so as residents fled, doors remained opened,
further encouraging fire to spread.
