What we’ve learned from the Grenfell Tower tragedy

What we’ve learned from the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

On the 14 June 2017, a disaster that shook the nation taking away the lives of 72 people, injuring many others and devastating families. A whole community became the core of public unrest and resulted in a mass scale enquiry that identified around 2,000 buildings over 18m tall clad in dangerous combustible materials in England alone.

The cladding crisis exposed that not only did the buildings pose an immediate fire risk to residents but also saw flat owners facing building insurance premiums, extensive and costly remedial work and mortgage lenders deeming the properties unsafe and ceasing to lend money against them.

What steps have been taken to ensure the Grenfell Tower tragedy will never happen again?

The Government has unveiled a multi-billion pound 5-point plan to bring an end to unsafe cladding which will provide reassurance to homeowners and confidence to the housing market.

Five-point plan to bring an end to unsafe cladding:

1. Government will pay for the removal of unsafe cladding for leaseholders in all residential buildings 18 metres and over (6 storeys) in England.
2. Generous finance scheme to provide reassurance for leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18 metres (4 to 6 storeys), ensuring they never pay more than £50 a month for cladding removal.
3. An industry levy and tax to ensure developers play their part.
4. A world-class new safety regime to ensure a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again, providing confidence to this part of the housing market including lenders and surveyors.
5. All buildings 18 metres and over will be covered by the fund. See further detail on building eligibility.

Is cladding fireproof?

Not all building cladding is fireproof and this is why this Government scheme has been put in place. The building regulations pre 2020 required buildings over 18m to be class ‘O’ fire rated and this is not non-combustible or fireproof materials which has led to more and more buildings being clad in inappropriate materials prior to this date.

In combination with this, the insulation behind the cladding was often specified as phenolic based foam insulation which was great for thermal properties but again not fireproof or non-combustible. Often, the firebreaks in these buildings were not checked or installed correctly or missed out of the construction phase and therefore leaving the cladding and insulation exposed to a rainscreen chimney affect up the ventilated cavity in the rainscreen which was not protected. This in turn leading to a quicker and much more aggressive spread of fire across the building from floor to floor and apartment to apartment.

How many re-cladding projects have Telling Rainscreens worked on so far, and have they all been social housing?

We have worked on approximately 14 schemes over the past year in social and private housing developments and 1 scheme which was a hotel with the same issues. More and more schemes are being looked at and developed in the UK and the Argeton Class A1 cladding system is a safe way to progress and re-invest with these buildings.

Is cladding the most cost effective way to make such buildings safe again? 

The Telling Rainscreen Argeton system is one of the most cost effective and light weight solutions for dealing with the recladding issues that the country is facing using a class A1 fire rated cladding system. We provide solutions to our clients needs and not just a piece of ceramic or a panel.

So as you can see, when it comes to ensuring the safety and peace of mind over anything like this tragedy happening again – the difference is Telling.