International companies that manufactured Grenfell Tower’s cladding “abused” testing regimes meant to check fire safety, deliberately misled customers about the performance of their products and circumvented regulations with clever marketing, the public inquiry into the disaster has heard.
Arconic, which made the cladding sheets that were the main cause of the fire’s spread, obtained a certificate for its plastic-filled panels on “a false premise” by supplying test reports for a more fire-retardant version of the product, lawyers for the bereaved and survivors told the inquiry.
Celotex, which made the bulk of the combustible foam insulation used, displayed a “widespread culture … of ignoring compliance”, which included distorting a full-scale fire test of its materials, the inquiry heard.
And Kingspan, which made the rest of the insulation, carried out tests that involved either “concealing components in a manner designed to facilitate a pass and/or using materials that were not as described in the test reports,” it was claimed. Internal emails from the firm revealed it knew it was “dodgy” for it to advertise that its material could be used on tall buildings above 18 metres.
“It was all too clear that the companies were untroubled by the safety of their products and some of them remain so despite the disastrous fire,” said Stephanie Barwise QC. Barwise said Kingspan and Celotex “abused” the testing system and carried out fire tests of materials that involved either “concealing components in a manner designed to facilitate a pass and/or using materials that were not as described in the test reports”.
This included adding fire retardants to materials in order to slow down ignition .
She concluded with a warning that “the manufacturers are in general not humbled by the Grenfell fire, and their behaviours are not altered by it.”
Arconic, Celotex and Kingspan went out of their way to advertise their products as having the safest ratings for fire spread even though their materials did not have that classification.
Arconic are refusing to appear before the inquiry. Three executives of the company, based in France, are refusing to attend, citing a French law that has been used once in its 51-year existence to prosecute French nationals who provide evidence and company documents in foreign legal processes.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/05/makers-of-grenfell-cladding-abused-testing-regimes-inquiry-told
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