Government warned BBA about ‘serious safety matter’ regarding ‘misleading’ Kingspan certificate

News18.03.218.00 PM by Lucie Heath

A government official wrote to the British Board of Agrément (BBA) in 2014 warning it of an error contained in its certificate for the insulation used on Grenfell Tower, describing the issue as “a serious safety matter”.

Chris Hunt, former head of approvals at the BBA (picture: Grenfell Inquiry)

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Government criticised the BBA for making amendments to its K15 certificate which the inquiry described as “potentially quite dangerously misleading” #GrenfellInquiry #UKhousing

Today the inquiry heard that the BBA, which certificated one of the insulation products and the cladding panels used on Grenfell Tower, made amendments to its certificate for Kooltherm K15 insulation that were described by counsel to the inquiry Rachel Troup as “potentially quite dangerously misleading”.

The amendment in question involved adding reference to paragraph 12.7 of Approved Document B to the building regulations, which stated that insulation could be used on a high-rise building if it was of “limited combustibility”.

This reference was included in the BBA’s K15 certificate despite the product being combustible and therefore not suitable for use on high-rise buildings unless as part of a system that had passed a large-scale test.

Chris Hunt, former head of approvals at the BBA, said he did not believe it was the BBA’s intention to indicate that K15 could be used on buildings taller than 18m but agreed with “there is the risk that it could be read that way”.

The inquiry was then shown an email sent in 2014 to the BBA by government official Brian Martin.

“It has come to my attention that BBA cert 08452 2008 included advice that the product in question satisfied paragraph 12.7 of volume two of Approved Document B. Para 12.7 provides that insulation materials used in external walls should be of limited combustibility. It would appear, however, that the product in question is not a material of limited combustibility,” the email said.

At this point the BBA had already published a new certificate for K15 that removed the reference to section 12.7, however Mr Martin called the issue “a serious safety matter” and asked the BBA to “investigate and advise me of the outcome of your investigation as soon as possible”.

In a response, BBA employee John Albon said the mistake was “caused by human error” and was “an unfortunate and rare oversight that would not escape the internal checks and measures that BBA currently operate”.

Today Mr Albon told the inquiry that the BBA “carried out an in-house investigation” and was “satisfied that we had the necessary experience and that that would not happen again”.

The inquiry has previously heard that the BBA’s certificate for K15 also stated the product had achieved a Class 0 rating, despite the BBA having received no test data to confirm this.

Instead, the BBA believes the information was “extrapolated from a series of fire reports on similar Kingspan phenolic products”.

The BBA’s certificate also stated that the insulation boards “will not contribute to the development stages of a fire or present a smoke or toxic hazard”, despite K15 being a combustible product.

The Grenfell Tower Inquiry continues.