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Fears for residents as cladding on 14 tower blocks fails fire tests Fears for residents as cladding on 14 tower blocks fails fire tests
(35 minutes later)
Councils have been ripping down cladding from tower blocks as testing after the Grenfell Tower blaze raised concerns over the safety of the buildings. Cladding panels from 14 tower blocks in nine local authorities have failed urgent fire safety tests being carried out after the Grenfell Tower blaze, raising concerns for the safety of thousands of residents.
Two buildings in Portsmouth and one in north London were having cladding removed as a precautionary measure, it emerged on Friday. Councils announced plans to rip down cladding on buildings in Salford, Portsmouth and two London boroughs, Islington and Hounslow, as a precautionary measure. The emergency steps were taken as thousands of local authority tenants were warned that their homes were enveloped in potentially flammable materials.
The emergency measures were taken as thousands of tower block residents around the UK were warned that their homes are clad with the same flammable aluminium panels believed to have fuelled the fire in North Kensington. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said on Friday that buildings in Plymouth, Manchester, Hounslow and Camden had failed fire safety tests carried out at the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
The UK’s largest hotel group, Premier Inn, is also reviewing the safety of its buildings amid fears that cladding used on some properties does not meet safety regulations. The government has refrained from naming five other councils where buildings have failed fire tests while landlords and residents are informed, but Portsmouth confirmed that it was among them.
In Portsmouth, after independent testing, cladding on Horatia House and Leamington House in Somerstown is being removed. Six hundred local-authority owned buildings where aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding panels were identified on Thursday for testing after the north Kensington tragedy, in which 79 people are confirmed to have died.
Councillor Luke Stubbs, deputy leader of Portsmouth city council, said: “As a precaution we submitted some cladding for testing and the results that came back said the cladding on Horatia House and Leamington House was a fire risk. In a letter to councils this week, the DCLG permanent secretary, Melanie Dawes, said: “It is important to stress that ACM cladding is not of itself dangerous, but it is important that the right type is used.”
As an extra precaution council staff will be present in the two buildings 24 hours a day, for as long as necessary. The NHS is reported to be among organisations checking their buildings are safe. The Health Service Journal reported a letter has been sent to NHS trusts urging them to check buildings for combustible cladding in the wake of the fire. The government is checking hundreds of further public buildings to see if they pose a fire threat.
Islington council has confirmed that cladding is to be removed from Braithwaite House after tests revealed the presence of aluminium composite material (ACM). Concern about the cladding panels has spread beyond the state sector, as it emerged that the UK’s largest hotel group, Premier Inn, was reviewing the safety of its buildings amid fears that material used on some properties did not meet safety regulations. Councils were also examining schools and hospitals, the prime minister’s spokesman said.
Diarmaid Ward, Islington council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “We’re arranging to have the cladding, which is only on the sides of the building, removed as soon as we possibly can by a specialist contractor. But private landlords or property developers will not be compelled to submit samples of their buildings for testing, Downing Street confirmed. “The testing facility is available to them and we expect many will use it,” a spokeswoman said. “We are not compelling them. Local authorities are identifying private buildings which have cladding, but we don’t know the number or volume of those yet.
“We expect private landlords which have cladding on their buildings will use the testing site and they will be responsible about that, that’s the message we are getting out to them.”
In Portsmouth, work began to remove cladding from Horatia House and Leamington House in Somerstown on Friday afternoon after testing revealed the panels could pose a fire risk. Council staff would be present in the buildings around the clock “for as long as necessary”, councillor Luke Stubbs, deputy leader of Portsmouth city council, said.
Islington council confirmed that cladding was to be removed from Braithwaite House. Diarmaid Ward, Islington council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “We’re arranging to have the cladding, which is only on the sides of the building, removed as soon as we possibly can by a specialist contractor.
“We’re also stepping up safety measures in the block immediately, with fire safety patrols taking place day and night from today until the panels are removed.”“We’re also stepping up safety measures in the block immediately, with fire safety patrols taking place day and night from today until the panels are removed.”
Premier Inn, which has more than 700 hotels, said three of its properties – in Maidenhead, Brentford and Tottenham – had been specifically investigated during a “detailed assessment” of its estate. In Hounslow, west London, ACM panels will be stripped from Clements Court after they failed combustion tests. The aluminium panels were found to have a polyethylene filler between them, the council said. Harley Facades, which also worked on Grenfell Tower, was responsible for the cladding at Clements Court, as the Guardian reported last week.
A spokeswoman said the material was not the same as that used to clad Grenfell Tower, where police have confirmed that 79 people died or are presumed to have died in the devastating fire, but the company had called in an expert to review the safety of its buildings. The fire brigade will carry out home safety tests in every flat in the block over the weekend, and a fire patrol will start on Saturday.
It also emerged that Salford city council decided to preemptively remove ACM panels from nine social housing tower blocks. Residents in the recently refurbished buildings run by Pendleton Together were told that the material would be taken down, though the tests have not yet proven conclusive.
The Salford city mayor said it was the “right and moral thing to do”. “There will be no waiting around in Salford while there are any questions about the safety of our residents,” Paul Dennett added.
Other council tenants face an anxious wait for the results of tests. In Lambeth, south London, the local authority has sent samples from all 31 of its blocks that are fully or partially clad and more than six storeys for testing, although a spokesman said Lambeth believed the materials used were “fundamentally different” from those used on Grenfell Tower.
In Wandsworth, the council announced it would retro-fit sprinkler systems to 6,400 properties in more than 100 blocks.
Premier Inn, which has more than 700 hotels, said three of its properties – in Maidenhead, Brentford and Tottenham – had been specifically investigated during a “detailed assessment” of its estate. A spokeswoman said the material was not the same as that used to clad Grenfell Tower, but the company had called in an expert to review the safety of its buildings.
She said: “Although we have concerns that the fire-retardant cladding used may not adhere to recognised government guidance on compliance with the building regulations for use in high-rise buildings, an independent fire expert has assured us that these hotels are safe and that they are entirely satisfied that there are robust fire safety measures and evacuation procedures in place to protect our guests and team members.”She said: “Although we have concerns that the fire-retardant cladding used may not adhere to recognised government guidance on compliance with the building regulations for use in high-rise buildings, an independent fire expert has assured us that these hotels are safe and that they are entirely satisfied that there are robust fire safety measures and evacuation procedures in place to protect our guests and team members.”
Downing Street said it had identified 11 tower blocks across eight local authority areas with similar ACM cladding to that used at the North Kensington tower. The Radisson Blu hotel chain said it was conducting checks on all hotels that use cladding systems as a precaution. A hotel in Solihull for which the designers planned to use Reynobond ACM panels was never built, vice-president Richard Moore said: “To our knowledge, none of the Radisson Blu hotels in the UK have Reynobond panels, but as a precautionary measure, we are undertaking checks and testing on the exterior cladding of all of our UK hotels.”
Inquiries by the Guardian suggested at least 25 towers – including 13 in London, nine in Salford and three in Plymouth – had cladding of the aluminium composite type, and 12 of these were believed by local authorities to have a combustible polyethylene core. Cladding at the other 13 high rises was still being tested. Inquiries by the Guardian on Thursday suggested at least 25 towers – including 13 in London, nine in Salford and three in Plymouth – had cladding of the aluminium composite type, and 12 of these were believed by local authorities to have a combustible polyethylene core. Cladding at the other 13 high rises was still being tested.
About 600 towers across the UK have been clad, and some of these are likely to have flammable systems, the Department for Communities and Local Government has estimated.
Councils have been asked to conduct safety checks, sending building materials to the Building Research Establishment to be tested.
Three blocks with aluminium cladding panels have been identified in Newham, in east London, three in Barnet, north London, and one in Havering, east London.
A Lambeth council spokesman said none of its high-rise or medium-rise buildings used the same cladding system as that used at Grenfell Tower, but that it was testing samples from all 31 of its housing blocks that were over six storeys and partially or fully clad.
All cladding work carried out in the past five years used Rockwool cladding, which the spokesman said was “fundamentally different”.
In Hounslow, the council said Clements Court was the only high-rise to have used cladding made from ACM. The cladding uses non-flammable Rockwool insulation, but a sample had been sent to the Building Research Establishment for testing.
London fire brigade has said that since the fire on 14 June it has been “flooded” with questions from the public about whether it is safe to live in a tower block.London fire brigade has said that since the fire on 14 June it has been “flooded” with questions from the public about whether it is safe to live in a tower block.
Fire crews are to visit premises identified as having cladding made of ACM to check the safety of the building.Fire crews are to visit premises identified as having cladding made of ACM to check the safety of the building.
Additional reporting by David Pegg