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MHCLG: HPL and combustible insulation should be removed
High-pressure laminate (HPL) cladding should be removed from high-rise blocks if it is combined with combustible insulation, the government has said.
In a statement to Inside Housing, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said that there should be no buildings with this combination of cladding and insulation, and that it is down to building owners to remove it if that is the case.
This is the first time the government has publicly instructed building owners to specifically remove HPL, which is a different material to the aluminium composite cladding used on Grenfell Tower but it is also considered dangerous by experts.
Research by insulation firm Rockwool, reported on by Inside Housing in November, estimates that 1,678 buildings have combustible materials different to that used on Grenfell Tower and therefore are not included in government statistics.
A large proportion of these are likely to be clad in HPL, which the government has now said must be removed if it is combined with combustible insulation. Inside Housing has also identified a number of private and social housing blocks that are clad in HPL.
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An MHCLG spokesperson said: “There should be no buildings in this country with this combination of cladding and insulation. Building owners are legally responsible for ensuring the safety of their buildings and need to make sure this is the case.
The department originally made the statement in response to a story in the Mirror, in which Labour’s shadow housing minister Sarah Jones slammed the government over HPL.
She accused housing minister Kit Malthouse of misleading MPs in January, when he told a parliamentary select committee that any cladding materials that failed tests would need to be removed.
Ms Jones’ comments came after Mr Malthouse revealed last month that the government has been aware since November that HPL cladding failed a large-scale test when combined with combustible insulation.
The statement from the department also said: “Building owners should be well aware of their responsibilities as we issued clear-cut advice in December 2017, reinforced last December, telling them to check that only safe cladding and insulation combinations had been used on their buildings.”
This refers to Advice Note 14, which told building owners to remove any combustible cladding unless it had passed a large-scale test or had a “robust” desktop study finding it to be safe. Despite the government being aware of the HPL test in November, the updated note did not mention the HPL test with combustible insulation and did not specifically say that HPL should be removed.
In a written answer published on Thursday, Mr Malthouse appeared to exclude the desktop study route, telling the Labour MP Steve Reed: “Building owners should reassure themselves that any cladding used on their buildings is of limited combustibility or has passed a BS 8414 test. If not, building owners should take action to make the building safe.”
He added: “The large-scale (BS 8414) test referred to in the article was commissioned by a third party. The details of the test are commercially confidential. The department is not party to the detail of the class of [HPL] or type of system tested.”
Never Again campaign
Inside Housing has launched a campaign to improve fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire
Never Again: campaign asks
Inside Housing is calling for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
LANDLORDS
- Take immediate action to check cladding and external panels on tower blocks and take prompt, appropriate action to remedy any problems
- Update risk assessments using an appropriate, qualified expert.
- Commit to renewing assessments annually and after major repair or cladding work is carried out
- Review and update evacuation policies and ‘stay put’ advice in light of risk assessments, and communicate clearly to residents
GOVERNMENT
- Provide urgent advice on the installation and upkeep of external insulation
- Update and clarify building regulations immediately – with a commitment to update if additional learning emerges at a later date from the Grenfell inquiry
- Fund the retrofitting of sprinkler systems in all tower blocks across the UK (except where there are specific structural reasons not to do so)
We will submit evidence from our research to the Grenfell public inquiry.
The inquiry should look at why opportunities to implement learning that could have prevented the fire were missed, in order to ensure similar opportunities are acted on in the future.
