By Tom Lowe2021-03-12T13:01:00+00:00
Hearing told British Board of Agrément supplied certificate for ACM cladding based on incomplete test data
The makers of the combustible ACM panels blamed for the rapid spread of fire at Grenfell Tower threatened to cut ties with a testing house unless the panels were approved, the inquiry has heard.
Arconic had been in talks with the British Board of Agrément (BBA) to secure a Class 0 rating for its polyethylene-filled Reynobond PE panels to stamp them as safe for use on high-rise buildings in the UK.
Hamo Gregorian giving evidence to Thursday’s hearing
Grenfell Tower cladding firm ‘warned blaze could kill 60 to 70’ a decade before deadly fire Samuel Osborne
Replay Video UP NEXT
The firm that made the cladding used on Grenfell Tower was warned the risks of a fire could kill “60 to 70” people a decade before the fatal blaze.
Arconic marketing manager Gerard Sonntag asked colleagues what the costs would be of only selling aluminium composite material (ACM) with a fire-resistant core, rather than the polyethylene (PE) plastic alternative, after hearing about the potential dangers in a presentation in Norway in 2007.
The company, formerly known as Alcoa, provided the ACM PE-cored panels which were installed during its refurbishment and helped fuel the blaze in 2017.
Cladding firm boss shocked at products potential dangers, Grenfell inquiry told grampianonline.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from grampianonline.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey will pay out £125 million to replace cladding and improve fire safety on all blocks built in the last 20 years in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.
The money is set to be placed in a fund in order to provide certainty for customers and leaseholders and to avoid them bearing the cost of investment to ensure their buildings are safe , the company said.
It comes just weeks after ministers set aside £3.5 billion in funding to help repair or replace cladding more than three years on from the tragic fire in west London, which left 72 dead.
More than a million leaseholders face bills of up to £115,000 to fix unsafe homes and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told the Commons last month that those in blocks over 18 metres (60ft) high would no longer have to pay to replace flammable cladding.