By Tom Lowe2021-03-09T11:36:00+00:00
Installed barriers had not been tested prior to use on tower’s refurbishment
The cavity barriers used on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower were only formally approved as safe by the supplier nine days after the disastrous 2017 fire, the inquiry has heard.
Cavity barrier supplier Siderise had sold the barriers for use on Grenfell Tower for gaps ranging between 326mm and 425mm – despite the product only being tested to a maximum cavity of 300mm.
Christopher Mort giving evidence to Monday’s hearing
But Monday’s hearing was told how, in the immediate aftermath of the fire which claimed 72 lives, the firm had ordered a report which extended the application of the barriers to gaps of up to 425mm.
By Tom Lowe2021-03-09T12:15:00+00:00
Installed barriers had not been tested prior to use on tower’s refurbishment
The cavity barriers used on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower were only formally approved as safe by the supplier nine days
after the disastrous 2017 fire, the inquiry has heard.
Cavity barrier supplier Siderise had sold the barriers for use on Grenfell Tower for gaps ranging between 326mm and 425mm – despite the product only being tested to a maximum cavity of 300mm.
Christopher Mort giving evidence to Monday’s hearing
But Monday’s hearing was told how, in the immediate aftermath of the fire which claimed 72 lives, the firm had ordered a report which extended the application of the barriers to gaps of up to 425mm.
By Jordan Marshall2021-01-20T14:14:00+00:00
Cases filed at High Court last month
Thirteen civil court cases against 22 firms and organisations have been launched by Grenfell Tower survivors and relatives of the victims.
The cases were filed at the High Court in London last month following the June 2017 blaze, which claimed the lives of 72 people.
Source: Shutterstock
The inquiry into the 2017 blaze is set to resume next month
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) for the tower have been named as being among the series of defendants.
Others who have had claims filed against them include materials suppliers Kingspan, Arconic and Celotex as well main contractor on the refurbishment, Rydon, subcontractor Harley Facades and project architect Studio E.
Hadleigh, where Celotex is based, is an affluent market town in a picturesque part of south Suffolk. It is the opposite to the England of the Grenfell estate in west London, but decisions made there are now at the centre of the inquiry.
Hadleigh, where Celotex is based, is a picturesque market town in Suffolk
- Credit: Charlotte Bond
Since 2012 Celotex had been owned by a French firm called Saint Gobain - a massive multinational corporation.
When it bought Celotex, Saint Gobain wanted to see a return on its investment and gave management a target of increasing profits by 15%.
In 2012, head of marketing Paul Evans, created a document called “lost opportunities”.
How they built Grenfell Away from the media spotlight, the Grenfell Tower inquiry is quietly disentangling a web of corporate spin and scandal. In December 2007, an Irish building materials company called Kingspan tested the fire safety of one of its insulation materials, Kooltherm K15. It was tested on a rig mocked up like a building, to mimic how the product might be used in real life, with aluminium cladding panels on a steel frame six metres tall. It created a “raging inferno”, according to one of the test’s observers from Kingspan. The Building Research Establishment (BRE), the certification body that carried out the test, had to stop it early because it risked setting fire to the laboratory. Even after the heat source was extinguished, the product continued to burn on its own.