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Featured pages Article Arconic HQ was probably told of cladding issues, Grenfell inquiry hears , 22 February 2021
One of the most senior US executives at Arconic was probably told that the companyâs cladding panels were unsafe for buildings above 12 metres in height two years before the Grenfell Tower disaster, a public inquiry has heard.
The $7bn-a-year-turnover aluminium specialist sold the plastic-filled panels for use on the apartment block in west London, which was 67 metres tall and went up in flames in June 2017, killing 72 people.
In June 2015 the companyâs French subsidiary produced an assessment of the safety of the cladding panels at the request of Diana Perreiah, president of Arconicâs global building and construction systems business.
By Tom Lowe2021-02-23T11:44:00+00:00
But firm continued selling Reynobond PE panels in the UK until a week after 2017 blaze
A manager at the manufacturer that sold combustible ACM panels to be used on the Grenfell Tower refurbishment warned colleagues two years before the fatal fire that the cladding was dangerous and a safer version should be sold instead.
Arconic technical manager Claude Wehrle’s warning came shortly after the firm’s US parent company had sought an assessment of the Reynobond PE panels produced in France and sold into the UK market.
Monday’s hearing was told that Diana Perreiah, the president of Arconic’s global building and construction systems business, had requested the assessment from the president of the firm’s French subsidiary, Claude Schmidt.
The government may move to force cladding manufacturers to contribute to the costs of remediating unsafe buildings, according to building safety minister
Speaking in a House of Lords debate yesterday (22 February), the minister said: 'It is worth looking at the cladding manufacturers because, as well as the