A cladding system similar to the one used at Grenfell Tower spectacularly failed safety tests in 2001, the public inquiry into the disaster has heard.
Tests had resulted in a "very rapid, very large fire" and had to be stopped.
For the first time, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) confirmed publicly the tests had resulted in 20m (65ft) flames.
Sarah Colwell from the BRE told the inquiry the results were passed to the government to "alert and identify" the problem. If the results had been widely disseminated, it is possible the Grenfell cladding would not have been installed.
Despite the test, the aluminium cladding had the best national rating for fire spread - Class zero - a standard which has been discredited since the Grenfell Tower fire. Despite the obvious fire risks the aluminium cladding was not specifically banned, and continued to be used on buildings.
Cladding companies claimed they had been horrified by how fast the flames spread, and that they had not been aware of the risks of aluminium and plastic cladding. A document produced by the BRE in 2006 following the tests did not mention the 2001 test results.
Grenfell Tower: Earlier cladding fire test was 'catastrophic failure' - BBC News
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