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A report prepared for the government by fire experts in 2003 came to many of the same conclusions as Dame Judith Hackitt. Its lead author, David Sugden, tells how he warned of an impending disaster
The Grenfell Tower fire was an inevitable consequence of a system that I knew to be at best inefficient and at worst ineffective. In 2003, a three-year study for the then Department of Trade and Industry looking at the installation of passive fire protection (PFP) in buildings was published. It was prepared by the Association for Specialist Fire Protection and had input from the Passive Fire Protection Federation, the Fire and Risk Sciences section of the Building Research Establishment and Warrington Fire Research Centre.
The work considered both new construction and existing buildings and was led by a steering group of laboratories, test houses, manufacturers, contractors, property owners and government departments.
We basically concluded, more or less, what Dame Judith has just said in her final report. In our 2003 report we said: “Public safety is being impinged by incorrect PFP measures and we feel that a disaster caused by accelerated or unexpected fire spread could follow if no action is taken to improve initial standards and to define the responsibility of building occupiers to undertake correct maintenance.”
We recommended, among other things, that all PFP materials should be covered by third-party certification (TPC) and that installation of PFP should be by TPC installers rather than multiple “other trades” as was, and indeed still is, the case.
This fragmentation of structural PFP and compartmentation measures by random contractors is never effectively inspected and we all know that what is unlikely to be checked is unlikely to be efficiently, correctly done. Over the following years we pressed for changes whenever the opportunity arose but governments of any hue resisted more “red tape” and we were even told that this was not necessary, a favourite phrase was “show me the bodies”.
“A favourite phrase was ‘show me the bodies’.”
Creating compartmentation is not a trade in itself, but the outcome of work by the many trades that work on any building. While the primary work of these trades can be mechanically tested, the ability of a compartment to resist the spread of smoke and flames or insulate against the spread of heat is more difficult to test and requires competent, auditable installation.
For many years, we have had competition for the building control function between the local authority building control and some 100-plus ‘approved inspectors’ whose independence has rightly been questioned in the Hackitt report. This competition allied to the lowest price tender situation and a lack of proper inspection has been, as Dame Judith acknowledges, a “race to the bottom” and those of us in the fire protection industry have been pressing for changes.
The testimony by Dr Barbara Lane, UK leader for the Applied Innovation and Technology Group at Arup, and others to Sir Martin Moore-Bick at the Grenfell inquiry this week simply proves that what was predicted in 2003 has happened, and we must learn the lesson.
“The testimony by Dr Barbara Lane and others to Sir Martin Moore-Bick at the Grenfell inquiry this week simply proves that what was predicted in 2003 has happened, and we must learn the lesson.”
I hear no great shout from anyone for the Hackitt recommendations to be adopted and I fear delays in their implementation. The government has its hands full at present and there are just six weeks to the summer recess. Police prosecutions following the investigations are likely but not imminent, the inquiry report will take four years. In the Hackitt report, the minister has ways of changing a broken system of control and, in my opinion, should act with alacrity to implement the findings.
Consider Dame Judith’s personal view: “The above issues have helped to create a cultural issue across the sector, which can be described as a ‘race to the bottom’ caused either through ignorance, indifference, or because the system does not facilitate good practice. There is insufficient focus on delivering the best quality building possible, in order to ensure that residents are safe, and feel safe.”
The PFP trade and certification bodies have been offering training for many years to ensure that properly tested products are correctly installed and the contracting industry must ensure their operatives or sub-contractors have this level of training.
We cannot allow resistance to changes to the systemic problems that caused this disaster to delay measures that should prevent a repeat.
David Sugden, former chair, Passive Fire Protection Federation
Closing statements
Day 85: victims' lawyers attack the fire brigade
Further expert evidence
Including some additional evidence from emergency call handlers, bereaved and relatives
Day 84: further evidence from survivors and relatives
Day 83: swift evacuation of tower possible if residents alerted
Day 82: initial fire was extinguished but then returned to the flat
Day 81: overheating fridge-freezer most likely cause of fire
Day 80: fire doors installed did not match product tested
Day 79: resident advised to stay put despite fire in flat
Day 78: insulation and cladding material below required standard
Day 77: molten plastic spread blaze down tower
Day 76: 'stay put' should be dropped when fire spreads across floors
Other witness evidence
Police, ambulance, gas suppliers, council, TMO and call room operators give evidence
Day 75: call room operators give evidence
Day 74: further evidence from TMO officers
Day 73: TMO boss failed to pass information to firefighters
Day 72: fire finally extinguished when gas switched off
Day 71: further questions over stay put advice
Day 70: the police evidence
The bereaved, survivors and relatives’ evidence
Day 69: video shows smoke billowing through fire door
Day 68: KCTMO removed self closing mechanism and never replaced it
Day 67: gaps in cladding fixed with duct tape
Day 66: 'don't fix broken system with a sticking plaster'
Day 65: survivor dragged disabled man down nine floors to safety
Day 64: KCTMO 'did not replace broken fire door'
Day 63: foam insulation inside cladding 'exposed' says survivor
Day 62: father gives harrowing account of son's death
Day 61: council’s management organisation slammed for faulty electrics
Day 60: stay put advice ‘led to deaths’, residents say
Day 59: residents describe problems with new windows
Day 58: survivor describes how daughter saved his life
Day 57: firefighter evidence ‘a slap in the face’, says survivor
Day 56: relations with contractor were ‘toxic’
Day 55: resident 'never happy' with stay-put advice
Day 54: tenant gives evidence about housing association
Day 53: stay put advice 'felt like trap'
Day 52: resident saved by son's phone call
The firefighters’ evidence
Day 51: firefighter feared encouraging residents to jump
Day 50: the LFB commissioner
Day 49: fire chief reveals frustration over lack of building plans
Day 48: internal fire spread 'bigger story' than cladding
Day 47: fire officer considered evacuating crews over building collapse fears
Day 46: 'we were improvising' senior firefighter admits
Day 45: firefighter urged for abandonment of 'stay put' policy
Day 44: firefighter recalls radio signal difficulties
Day 43: call hander 'uncomfortable' with insisting residents stay put
Day 42: residents only told to leave if they called fire brigade back
Day 41: breathing equipment delay 'hampered rescues on upper floors'
Day 40: chiefs told firefighters to abandon policy
Day 39: firefighters reveal dramatic rescue of children
Day 38: firefighters issue aplogies to families
Day 37: council 'unable to provide tower plans'
Day 36: QC defends inquiry process
Day 35: Javid would welcome interim recommendations
Day 34: water from hose 'too weak' to reach the flames
Day 33: 'oh my god, we've been telling people to stay put'
Day 32: further fire fighter describes lack of equipment and low water pressure
Day 31: 'incredibly difficult' task of recording information outlined
Day 30: struggle to maintain control over rescue operation described
Day 29: fire service 'overwhelmed' by survival guidance calls
Day 28: 'the building beat us'
Day 27: firefighters 'forced to abandon plans to reach roof'
Day 26: poor signage hindered rescue efforts
Day 25: water pressure left firefighting equipment 'like garden hose'
Day 24: decision to abandon 'stay put' explored
Day 23: TV images 'could have assissted' rescue effort
Day 22: description of hectic scenes in the control centre
Day 21: account from the fire service 'nerve centre'
Day 20: firefighter describes 'huge volume' of calls from trapped residents
Day 19: firefighter 'given no training on cladding fires'
Day 18: evacuation would have been 'huge catastrophe'
Day 17: firefighters describe access and lift issues
Day 16: scenes of carnage likened to 9/11
Day 15: firefighters recount trauma of survival guidance calls
Day 14: firefighters describe spread of blaze
Day 13: firefighters recall radio difficulties
Day 12: "it was like a war zone"
Day 11: questions raised over fire fighters' radios
Day 10: watch manager emotional under questioning
Day nine: lead firefighter 'not trained in stay put policy'
The expert reports: authors give evidence to inquiry
Day eight: where the fire started
Day seven: what was in the cladding?
Day six: the cause and spread of the fire
Day five: expert highlights key issues
Day four: firefighters defend response to fire
Day three: council and contractors appear for the first time
Day two: lawyers for the survivors make their case
Day one: expert evidence released on cladding and stay put
The commemoration hearings
30 May: Grenfell Council 'recognised it should not house disabled victim above four storeys'
29 May: Anger on day six of the Grenfell Inquiry
25 May: Grenfell families 'forced to live in chimney with stay put policy'
24 May: Grenfell family complained about father being housed on 17th floor
23 May: Tributes to children on third day of Grenfell hearings
22 May: Emotions run high as Grenfell bereaved shown footage of the tower burning
21 May: Grenfell victims share tributes as inquiry opens