Plan to fit Grenfell Tower with non-flammable panels was abandonedA costed proposal to fit Grenfell Tower with fire-resistant cladding was dropped owing to pressure from Kensington and Chelsea Council to slash refurbishment costs, according to The Guardian.
Rather than accepting a £3.3m quote from cladding company D+B Facades to fit non-flammable solid aluminium sheets with non-combustible mineral wool insulation, the council put the contract out to tender to save £1.3m.
The council chose construction company Rydon, which gave a lower quote, but fitted the 24-storey tower with combustible plastic-filled aluminium composite panels and synthetic insulation, catching fire so tragically on 14 June last year, killing 72 people.
In a bitter irony, the fatal chosen cladding ended up costing more than the original quote.
The Grenfell Tower inquiry has turned its attention to the issue of electrical fires, and has appointed Dr J Duncan Glover, founder of Failure Electrical LLC, as a new expert witness in that sphere.
Dr Glover’s area of specialisation is electrical engineering issues, particularly failure analysis of electrical systems, subsystems and components, including the causes of electrical fires.
He has 25 years’ experience of investigating a wide range of electrical and electronic equipment failures including explosions, fires and injuries.
Dr Glover joins nine other expert witnesses to the inquiry including Dr Barbara Lane, Leader of Fire Safety Engineering at Arup, Luke Bisby, Professor of Fire and Structures at the University of Edinburgh and Steve McGuirk, former Chief Fire Officer, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and South Yorkshire.
The role of the expert witnesses to the inquiry is to prepare reports on their individual subjects, which will be disclosed to all core participants and presented during the inquiry’s hearings.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will publish its Plan of Work for Fire offering updated best practice guidance on fire protection at a special conference to be held at its London HQ on 12 June.
The conference, entitled ‘Protecting Lives: Design & Construction Post Grenfell’, will feature experts from across the built environment, who will analyse current failings in the design, procurement, construction and maintenance of buildings and provide alternative solutions for industry and regulations.
Speakers will include Dame Judith Hackitt and a representative of the Grenfell Fire Forum.
RIBA, the Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP) and other construction stakeholders have been developing the plan since last October as an add-on to RIBA’s Plan of Works in a bid to fill the gaps in the UK’s fire protection processes.
The Plan of Work for Fire aims to ensure there is a detailed specification for fire protection at the design stage of a building and a schedule for fire protection throughout the construction and facilities management process.
Read more on RIBA’s Architecture.com
A study has found that while around 80% of Airbnb rentals in 16 US cities have smoke detectors, only just over half (58%) had carbon monoxide detectors and less than half (42%) a fire extinguisher or first-aid kits (36%).
Whether these devices are in working order, even if they are in place, was an unanswered question.
Researchers focused on fire safety features listed among the amenities in almost 121,000 rental listings of rooms and homes available through Airbnb in 16 cities including Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC.
Unsurprisingly, cities such as Nashville that require permits for all short-term rental properties had the highest rate of smoke alarms.
Despite the increasing popularity of Airbnb and similar privately-owned short-term peer-to-peer rental sites, the industry is not uniformly regulated, unlike the hotel industry, where fire protection, such as signed fire escape routes, fire doors, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and sprinkler systems, is a legal requirement.
In the USA in 2015, there were over 1.3m fires, which caused over 2,500 deaths and over US$14 billion in property damage.
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
I think the headline is slightly wrong! The electrical expert is for the Grenfell Inquiry not the Hackitt Review
Well spotted – thank you very much!
I am wondering if much thought has been given to the fact that rental residents such as those using Airbnb who are not familiar with buildings understand the escape drills and action in the event of fire or hearing alarm. The regulations and guides would require a higher standard of safety for hostel or hotel style accommodation yet many of the tall buildings may be used for short term rents.