acm cladding grenfell

The Reynobond aluminium composite material (ACM) panels installed on Grenfell Tower had a certificate from the British Board of Agrément which said the panels “may be … Jonathan Sakula said the combustibility of building systems similar to that used at the west London tower block were well known. ACM cladding became notorious following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, when ACM cladding with a polyethylene core was thought to have contributed to the rapid spread of the fire up the outside of the tower. The aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding panels was the “primary cause” of fire spread up the tower, adding that it was “more likely than not” that the plastic insulation also contributed An ‘architectural crown’, also made of ACM, at the top of the tower was the cause of the most rapid horizontal fire spread Head of Asset Management -Heritage/Historic Buildings-: DIOCESE OF LONDON, Lecturer in Construction: UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER, Senior Lecturer in Construction: UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER, Head of Strategic Procurement: CLARION HOUSING GROUP, ‘Responsibility for correct installation rests entirely with the main contractor’, Grenfell: Residents ‘given impression they shouldn’t complain about refurb’, Construction needs to rally round and fix its failings, Grenfell: Use of ACM cladding ‘not sensible’, says facade expert, BAM ‘conversation cards’ prompt workers to open up on harassment and personal safety, Photos | Beard starts work restoring UK’s oldest lido. “I would expect them to take a more proactive approach.”. The same ACM cladding used at Grenfell can also be found in medium and low-rise buildings that are not a government priority for remediation. Advertisement Share or comment on this article: Sakula was asked to focus in particular on the cladding industry’s knowledge of the fire risks posed by ACM cladding with a polyethylene (PE) core in his report, which was produced in March this year. They were putting up rails and putting up panels and insulation inside, and so on. 05 May 2021 We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. He noted, though, that “it was not in [the manufacturer’s financial] interest to cast doubt” over their own products. Prior to his appearance, Sakula produced a report answering a series of key questions regarding the cladding industry in the UK from January 2012 up until the fire at Grenfell occurred in June 2017. Jonathan Sakula, who has over 30 years’ experience in the façade industry and 45 years in construction, appeared before the hearing yesterday, having been appointed as an expert witness on cladding in October 2020. Of the 2,000 high-rise buildings still coated in highly flammable materials, 300 are clad with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels. Magazine of the Chartered Institute of Building. Fire wardens regularly patrol the building since the complex was found to have ACM cladding shortly after the Grenfell tragedy. Meanwhile, he also highlighted a lack of clarity over regulations in England governing the use of ACM cladding on high-rise buildings. Your email address will not be published. Approximately 22% of the building's facade features aluminium composite material polyethylene (ACM PE) cladding panels, which were found to be a key factor in the 2017 Grenfell … cladding, insulation, support rails, etc together ca… Sakula said he believed all contractors would have been aware that ACM could propagate the fire, though there was an expectation that the cladding manufacturer would notify the main contractor of the fire risk. Writing in July 2019, then communities secretary James Brokenshire set a deadline of June 2020 for the removal of ACM from private sector buildings. Some of the fires listed in a report he prepared for the inquiry included the 2013 fire at the Al-Hafeet Tower in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, a 2015 fire at the 63-storey Address Hotel in Dubai, also in the UAE, and one in Ramat Gan, Israel in 2016. Developer Ballymore had been under pressure from residents to remove the ACM cladding since the Grenfell disaster four years ago and work was … That same combination caused the fire to spread at Grenfell Tower, where 72 people were killed. However, in my opinion they would nevertheless have deferred to the guidance given in ADB2. It was not “sensible” for combustible aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding to be used on a tall building like Grenfell Tower, even if it might have been interpreted that it was “allowed” under Building Regulations at the time, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has heard. Following the fire in the UAE, French wrote to panel fabricator CEP in May 2013 and said that the company was aware of a BBC report on the fire, but would continue to provide cladding with a PE core. That same combination caused the fire to … In his report, Sakula said: “I consider that a reasonably competent cladding contractor or manufacturer would have been aware of the combustibility of PE−cored ACPs, particularly after the UAE fires. “Regarding the supply of Reynobond in the UK, as you know we supply both PE and FR core and can control and understand what core is being used in all projects due to the controlled supply route we have,” she wrote. ACM cladding is a flat panel attached to the external surface of the building that consists of two thin aluminium sheets bonded to a non-aluminum core. The 19-storey building is still covered in the same ACM cladding as Grenfell Tower, according to reports. Payment under the Construction Playbook: what’s the reality for contractors? Sakula highlighted a number of fires that were propagated by aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding with a polyethylene (PE) core. “They did take comfort from the fact that there hadn’t been a major disaster.” But this, he added, was not reasonable from a safety perspective. Material used in the cladding that covered the Grenfell Tower was the cheaper, more flammable version of the two available options, an investigation of … Immediately after the Grenfell Tower fire, the government began a testing programme on aluminium composite material (ACM) on high rise residential buildings, which is one element of a … Following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, the government commissioned a series of large scale fire tests of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding. The UK’s Most-Read Construction Magazine. Construction Manager is the highest circulation construction-based publication serving the UK built environment. Approximately 22% of the building’s facade features aluminium composite material polyethylene (ACM PE) cladding panels, which were found to be a key factor in the 2017 Grenfell fire. The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has already determined that the combustible ACM cladding and combustible insulation used in the refurbishment were the main causes of the spread of fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. 1 Comment. The inquiry into the Grenfell fire, which is still ongoing, concluded that "the primary cause of fire spread" was the presence of ACM cladding. Last week, cladding expert Jonathan Sakula told the Grenfell Inquiry that the dangers of ACM cladding were “well known” before the Grenfell Tower Fire … The Panel determined that further full scale testing should be carried out ensure that whole systems i.e. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The prevailing attitude appeared to have been that a deadly fire, which caused multiple deaths, “hasn’t happened so it can’t happen”, Sakula said. How much is the bill for the legal profession so far? Out of 328 buildings … “Firefighters are tackling a fire at a … “The combustibility of the ACM panels [with PE core] was well known in the industry, particularly since the fires in the UAE,” he explained. Arconic supplied the ACM cladding with PE core to Grenfell Tower’s refurbishment in 2016. Sign up to the CM newsletter for free, delivered direct to your inbox. A resident who spoke to the BBC described the cladding … The expert witness said he would have expected more action from cladding manufacturers to warn their customers of the dangers associated with the materials. Grenfell Tower: Why the ACM panels were in compliance with the building regulations The Government testing program The Grenfell Tower calamity highlighted the possible danger of employing combustible cladding on high rise buildings. Sakula said he believed all contractors would have been aware that ACM could propagate the fire, though there was an expectation that the cladding manufacturer would notify … The former commercial manager of Harley Curtain Wall denies “pushing” to use aluminium composite (ACM) cladding on the Grenfell Tower project. More than 200 high-rise buildings in England with cladding similar to that used on Grenfell Tower are yet to have work to remove it. Your email address will not be published. It was not “sensible” for combustible aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding to be used on a tall building like Grenfell Tower, even if it might have been interpreted that it was “allowed” under Building Regulations at the time, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has heard. Thank you. This is the same cladding that was put on Grenfell Tower, which led to the deaths of 72 people in 2017 after a fire broke out. That’s been done quite a lot in Britain.”. Managing the mental health of workers and your legal obligations, Causeway Donseed gets facial recognition at the right time, Revealed: six firms go under in April – as administrations fall to record low, Bam names subcontractors on £250m Manchester arena, Fire breaks out at ACM-clad apartment block in London, Poplar fire: government spent two years chasing developer on ACM cladding, Balfour Beatty plans exit from Irish market, Costs rise at fastest pace since 1997 as demand booms, Careys appoints new civil engineering boss, Construction Manager - Hospital & Mixed Development. The report said: “In such circumstances, I consider that failure to consider adequately the combustibility of the materials would fall below the standard expected of a reasonably competent practitioner in the cladding industry. The inquiry showed Sakula an email from Arconic UK sales manager Deborah French. This time it was not so disastrous. Therefore, while ADB2 section 12 remained unchanged, and was silent about the use of ACPs, a cladding contractor would have interpreted this that the use of ACPs was still allowed.”, But he went on: “I note, however, that ADB … is not itself the Building Regulations and that the 2010 Building Regulation B4 … itself states: ‘The external walls of the building shall adequately resist the spread of fire over the walls’.”, Concluding his report, Sakula said he considered the use of PE-cored ACM cladding for buildings over 18m in height to be “unwise” given their known combustibility. The most recent advice issued by the government states that the ACM cladding used at Grenfell "presents a significant fire hazard" and action should be taken to remove it … Aluminium composite cladding (ACM), which was implicated in the catastrophic Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in June 2017, was banned the following year. “At this stage we will continue to offer both PE & FR core.”. Required fields are marked *. Sakula said while the industry in the UK prior to 2012 might not have been aware of the fire risks posed by ACM cladding on high-rise buildings, that began to change after a series of high-profile fires in the Middle East and Europe after 2012, including a blaze at the 40-storey Al Tayer Tower in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and then a fire at the 18-storey Mermoz Tower in Roubaix in France in May 2012. Prior to his appearance, Sakula produced a report answering a series of key questions regarding the cladding industry in the UK from January 2012 up until the fire at Grenfell occurred in June 2017. As soon as the news came through, at the time of the fire, I knew what was happening and anyone with any knowledge of BRegs should have known too. In his report, he said: “I would not expect all practitioners in the cladding industry to have been aware of all of these at the time. Responding to Kate Grange QC about the nature of the work on Grenfell Tower, Sakula — a fellow of both the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers — said it was “relatively routine”. Residents have been campaigning since the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster to have ACM cladding removed from the development’s buildings. The type of cladding that first drew attention was the specific kind used on Grenfell Tower, aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding. What nonsense to say ‘even if it might have been allowed under Building Regulations at the time’, that cladding system did NOT comply with then current BRegs. Provided cladding panels had been tested to a standard known as Class 0, which examined the way the surface of a product such as cladding resisted the spread of flames, Approved Document B “allowed” their use. Nevertheless, the ones that would, in my opinion, have been more widely known were the fires in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), particularly in Dubai in 2012−2016, because they were well covered in the news media and technical press at the time.”, In the hearing, he added: “I would have expected them [a reasonably competent contractor] to have been aware of the UAE fires. Sign in or Register a new account to join the discussion. Related articles Lisa Nandy's phone rant about Red Wall as Labour lose Hartlepool No fatalities were reported with two of these fires, with one death at the Address Hotel incident. Powered Access magazine 2021 is now available to read in digital format. Registering also means you can manage your own CPDs, comments, newsletter sign-ups and privacy settings. Visit our, Cladding expert: ACM dangers were ‘well known’ before Grenfell tragedy, An inevitable wave of insolvencies in 2021, How we’re helping unlock UK buildings through safe ventilation, Getjar alliance adds piling and demolition capabilities. The most recent advice issued by the government states that the ACM cladding used at Grenfell "presents a significant fire hazard" and action should be taken to remove it … They might have been aware of some of the others, but I wouldn’t have expected that.”. Six of the eight hospitals told Insider they had not removed or did not plan to remove ACM cladding, the flammable building material related to the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in 2017. The building is believed to be covered in ACM cladding, the same type used on Grenfell Tower, which went up in flames in 2017. Arconic supplied the ACM cladding with PE core to Grenfell Tower’s refurbishment in 2016. But it could have been far worse. The UK Government set up an Independent Expert Advisory Panel to advise on immediate measures that should be put in place to help make buildings safe. On 17 June 2017, three days after the Grenfell fire, an Expert Group met at the DCLG. Sakula replied: “Yes, and I would add to that, not only the cladding contractor’s responsibility, this issue, it’s all parties involved.” He agreed that this meant the architect, the main contractor, as well as the building control officer and cladding manufacturer. By Emanuela Barbiroglio 2018-08-03T00:00:00+01:00. This is not a first step towards a paywall. He added: “From a technical point of view, it wasn’t particularly unusual, what they were doing on the outside of the building. They identified three types of ACM cladding, commonly referred to as PE, FR and A2, which have a polyethylene core, a fire retardant core, and a Euro Class A2 ‘limited combustibility’ core respectively. C.1) The Use of The Term ‘Filler’ For The ACM CORE by The DCLG and The Bre He said that during the period he had been asked to consider between 2012 and 2017, the “time lag in relation to the lack of clarity on parts of ADB2 [Approved Document B] was getting unreasonable”. This would apply even more so to a situation where such materials were being proposed as a cost saving measure, where it would be essential to verify whether the cheaper product would perform adequately by comparison with the product for which it was being substituted.”, Commenting on his report in the hearing, Sakula said: “My view is that I just don’t think it was sensible to use these kind of ACM on a tall building, and I think what they should have done is thought: well, let’s look in more detail at fire retardant core variants of the ACMs, if we’re going to use ACMs.”, Grange asked: “Can we be clear, therefore, that a reasonably competent cladding contractor should have carefully considered whether ACM PE cladding panels were suitable for use on a high−rise residential building, given the combustibility of such panels and their propensity to propagate the spread of fire?”. By Joshua Stein. Some 300 residential blocks in England still have Grenfell-style aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, while around 1,700 more have some form of dangerous cladding … The type on the Grenfell Tower had a polyethylene core, a type of plastic, which was the cheaper but more flammable option. After Grenfell: ACM cladding investigation. Scottish building regulations and planning law had prevented the extensive use of ACM cladding. Sakula highlighted a number of fires that were propagated by aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding with a polyethylene (PE) core. “I would have expected them to have taken more serious steps, saying ‘we are concerned about the use of PE cores on high buildings and would recommend you used FR [fire-resistant] materials’,” he said. These were intended to … We need readers to register with us to help sustain creation of quality editorial content on Construction Manager. 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