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Emergency tower block inspections to start this weekend
Sajid Javid has said emergency inspections of 4,000 tower blocks will start over the weekend, as the sector begins to respond to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The communities secretary told BBC Breakfast said he expected information from experts “either later today or certainly over the weekend” into what caused flames to consume the 24-storey tower block on Wednesday morning.
Mr Javid told BBC Breakfast: “There are about 4,000 high-rise buildings in the country but not all of them have been re-cladded, but also let’s not just make the assumption that it is all about cladding.
“We need to be led by the experts and as soon as we have more information from the experts, which we expect either later today or certainly over the weekend, that is what I think should be used to do these emergency inspections.”
Mr Javid said social housing providers are looking at the cladding used on their own blocks but would require interim conclusions on the cause of the Grenfell Tower blaze from fire inspectors “because to do an inspection today based on our current building regulations may not be enough”.
Following the Lakanal House fire where six people died a coroner recommended the government review part B of the building regulations, which relate to fire safety, “to ensure that it provides clear guidance…with particular regard to the spread of fire over the external envelope of the building and the circumstances in which attention should be paid to whether proposed work might reduce existing fire protection.”
“We need to be led by the experts," Sajid Javid
Fire safety experts have been urging the government for years to review the building regulations that relate to fire safety, and warned a few months ago that the government’s delay is putting tower blocks at risk.
Asked why no action had been taken on reviewing these regulations, he said: “There were a number of recommendations… my predecessor responded to that report publicly.
"With respect the coroner did not recommend new regulations, the coroner recommended a change in the guidance.”
The change to this guidance, Part B of the Building Regulations, has not taken place. New housing minister Alok Sharma said yesterday that the government is “almost ready” to initiate the review, four years on from the coroner’s report.
Mr Javid was unable to confirm the type of cladding used on the outside of the building. It has been widely reported as aluminium cladding with a polyethylene core – which is less fire resistant than more expensive versions – although this has not been publically confirmed.
