27 storey block of flats on fire in London.

[DoctorTwo]

BBC link. Holy shit, almost the entire building is ablaze. Hope everybody got out safely.

-cladding/

It looks like from what is below that a big issue that will need to be checked is whether at regular intervals on the outside between the cladding and concrete there was a fire proof thing: "An intumescent strip is designed to be installed at regular intervals to expand in the event of fire to become a cavity barrier."

"Fire investigators will focus today on how the Grenfell tower blaze spread so rapidly jumping up the exterior of the building from the fourth floor to top in just 15 minutes.

A key area of investigation will be the common rainscreen system used on the Grenfell Tower, which is designed to include fire-breaks at every floor and around every window.

Experts believe this may have failed with the void between the aluminium panels and building fabric acting as a chimney to spread the fire.

The system has been used on many tower block revamps and the Government has now ordered checks on all buildings in the UK that have been revamped in recent years.

Chris Miers, a forensic architect, said: “I was surprised to see the extent of fire and its rapid spread. The risk is if the void is not adequately subdivided it would act as a chimney.”

The building was overclad with with Aluminium Composite Material cassette rainscreen. This consists of two thin aluminium sheets sandwiching a core material. The panels are available with polyethylene or less flamable mineral cores.

Russ Timpson of the tall building fire safety network, said: “In the UK cladding has to be of limited combustibility. I’m sure it will be questioned what exactly this means and what these types of cladding systems are adding to the fire load of a building.”

The cladding system employs a void behind the panel to vent moisture. An intumescent strip is designed to be installed at regular intervals to expand in the event of fire to become a cavity barrier.

Cladding contractor Harley Curtain Wall fell into administration shortly after completing the £2.6m Grenfell Tower project.

Main contractor Rydon, which delivered the £8.6m upgrade to the Grenfell Tower in 2016 as part of a £57m borough-wide regeneration in Kensington & Chelsea, said it had met “all required building control, fire regulation and health and safety standards”.

“We will cooperate with the relevant authorities and emergency services and fully support their enquiries into the causes of this fire at the appropriate time.

“Given the ongoing nature of the incident and the tragic events overnight, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate or comment further at this stage.”

Both firms also delivered a bigger project, the Chalcot Estate in north London, which involved using similar systems to reclad five blocks as part of an £18m revamp.

The Chalcot estate in Swiss Cottage consists of 706 homes in five tower blocks -Taplow, Bray, Burnham, Dorney, and Blashford – rising to 23 storeys."

The cladding melting reminded me of an old public info film showing a fire with those polystyrene ceiling tiles. Just melting like lava raining down.

Someone has made a huge profit from the refurbishment project... and whoever project managed it bungled the job. Safety is the primary focus.

Miss Eliza,

You asked "why aren't there sprinklers?"

This is why:- (link below)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40290158

There has never been a multiple loss of life from a fire developing in a building protected by a properly designed, installed and maintained fire sprinkler system. While fire sprinkler systems have been required in new high-rise residential buildings in England since 2007, it is not compulsory to retrofit them into existing buildings. So Grenfell Tower had none.

The cladding was both aesthetic and insulating. The insulation was in the form of Celotex sheets, which is fire retardant. However, the grade used was of an inferior specification in order to save money. The amount saved? A massive £5000. Whoever authorised this must be put in front of a jury with a minimum charge of corporate manslaughter.

The gas main ran up the staircase. The gas contractors were asked in March to box it in and make it fireproof. Whoever took the deision to defer this job needs to be facing the same charge.

The budget for refurbishment of Grenfell was £10Mn. Works came in under budget at £8.6Mn. It has been estimated that retro fitting a sprinkler system would have cost in the range of £200000-£300000. Of course, a sprinkler system wouldn't have stopped the insulation from burning, but it would have stopped the fire taking hold inside.

The penny pinching to save a few pounds has cost probably over 50 lives. This has to stop.

decision. My c key is a bit sticky.

It's corporate murder - can't say 'manslaughter' because people must've known the risk and thought 'sod it, bigger profits'.

Dad was in a part of the industry and often asked to look at the aftermath of much lesser horrors. It was mostly down to corner cutting - cheap spec, cheap materials, using lower spec materials than specified... That and backhanders and blind eyes.

Doctor if individuals can be identified who made decisions reckless with regard to resident's safety, they can be brought to trial on individual charges. Corporate manslaughter is for when there is no mens rea for an individual one person but it's down to the culture of the organization, as nurtured by management. Corporate manslaughter doesn't hold a jail term or a criminal conviction for an individual, the penalty is a fine for the organization decided on by the court (with no upper limit). I would think it would be hard to prove though, if all decisions met regulatory minimums because it requires gross negligence on the part of the organization, and using regulations as your guideline is likely to be a fairly effective defence against that most of the time .

The police are hoping to bring manslaughter charges soon. I hope we find out who specified the panels and insulation, and what products were initially specified. If these panels were not the original spec, who signed the variation order allowing them to be used.

If there's no variation order...