The banning of Grenfell style combustible cladding from all new buildings over 18 metres high has failed to damp down protests from those wanting to see a complete ban on the use of such materials.
Former residents of the Grenfell Tower, fire fighters, architects, insurers and a group of mainly Labour MPs are calling on the Government to extend the ban to all existing buildings, including those under 18m tall.
Led by Steven Reed, the 20 MPs say that while the ban on using combustible cladding on new buildings is welcome, it does not go far enough. They warn that many existing buildings – including schools, low-rise hospitals, care homes and sheltered housing – are clad in dangerous materials and they are all used by people who would have serious difficulty in getting out if there was a fire.
The MPs are asking Housing Secretary James Brokenshire to extend the ban “so that everyone in our country can be reassured that the buildings they use are safe from fire.” The ban is due to come into effect this Autumn through a change made to building regulations. The Fire Brigades Union said the measures were “designed for political convenience” and failed to address the issue of Grenfell-style cladding already used on nearly 500 buildings across England. Matt Wrack, the FBU general secretary, said: “This is not the outright ban on combustible cladding that firefighters have been calling for.
The Westminster Government continues to allow cladding of limited combustibility for any building work in the future. The FBU called for a universal ban on these flammable materials.” He added that the measures should apply to all buildings, not just those over 18m high, and include a ban on the use of A2 materials. “I welcome this correction of the building regulations in regard to non-combustible materials,” said Arnold Tarling, an independent fire safety expert. “It takes us back to the safety standards we had in 1935 under the London Building Act. But what about all of the other buildings that have been built in the interim? Unprotected combustible insulation is used in cladding systems on thousands of buildings. What is the Government going to do about that?”
By Patrick Mooney, editor