A typographical error meant that a document issued by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) stated that a cladding component would burn slower than tests showed, an inquiry heard.
By Tom Lowe2021-03-05T10:50:00+00:00
LABC certificate became key part of Kingspan’s marketing literature for product used in Grenfell Tower’s cladding system
A local authority building control officer has said that he was “pressured” by Kingspan and a representative body to provide a certificate for a combustible insulation product used on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower, the inquiry has heard.
Herefordshire Building Control officer David Jones told Thursday’s hearing that he was under pressure to “find a way” to approve Kingspan’s K15 insulation as safe to use on high rise buildings.
The 2009 certificate he produced for the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) - the group representing local authority inspectors which was paid by Kingspan to provide a certificate - became an important part of Kingspan’s marketing literature for K15.
By Tom Lowe2021-03-04T10:42:00+00:00
BRE staff failed to notice two fire-resisting boards added to test rig to ensure a pass
A manager at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has admitted that not noticing that a fire test of an insulation product used on Grenfell Tower was rigged was a “very basic error”.
Former BRE project manager Tony Baker told the Grenfell Inquiry that he made a “fundamental omission” by missing the presence of two fire-resisting magnesium boards which were added to a May 2014 test of Celotex’s RS5000 insulation to increase the chances of a pass.
After the test passed, the extra magnesium oxide boards were not referenced in either the BRE’s official report of the test or Celotex’s marketing literature for the product.
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