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Camden Council expects to finish removing cladding from the five tower blocks on its Chalcots Estate by 13 January next year and replace it before the end of 2018.
According to the report issued by council leader Georgia Gould, the first tower – Blashford – should have its cladding removed by 9 December, with the other four following at regular intervals until the final tower – Taplow – sees the work finished.
Work on the final tower, the report said, has been delayed “due to the nature of construction at the base”.
The council said it had found problems with the cladding almost immediately after the fire at Grenfell Tower in June, claiming that it was “not to the standard requested”. These claims were quickly denied by Rydon, the contractor, which threatened the council with legal action.
The towers were initially evacuated for immediate fire safety works – including replacing fire doors – but residents were encouraged to return to their homes from July.
Residents of the estate have been consulted on options to replace the cladding, and the council said it was working with the government to find a safe material. It has also committed to testing the final option in a large-scale system to be built by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).
According to the report, 61 residents expressed a preference about the replacement option. The two most popular options were an aluminium cladding system and glass reinforced concrete panels, receiving 27 votes each.
Most of the residents consulted said that fire safety was their most important concern in selecting a new material.
The cladding being removed is an aluminium system itself, but the proposed replacement system would use Rockwool – which is fire resistant – as an internal insulating material. Furthermore, it would be made of solid aluminium panels with no core materials of any kind.
The polyethylene core of the cladding used on Grenfell Tower and on the Chalcots Estate has been widely criticised for fire safety issues, and cladding systems using this kind of core failed all tests by the BRE.
The council’s cabinet will make a final decision on the replacement system in January.