The DETR select committee has recommended that the DETR and the Housing Corporation order local authorities and housing associations to inspect buildings to ensure that cladding materials provide adequate protection from fire following an investigation into a blaze last year.
The committee says that cladding on all buildings of more than 10 storeys must be made safe if it is not already in line with regulations. This could involve stripping the facades of up to 500 tower blocks.
A source at one local authority said the recommendation would cost councils more than £1m for each tower block that required upgrading, adding up to a £500m bill.
The committee’s recommendation follows an inquiry into cladding standards in the aftermath of a fatal fire in a tower block in Irvine, Ayrshire, in June 1999 (30 July 1999). The fire spread through the building’s external cladding. The committee said: “We do not believe that it should take a serious fire in which many people are killed before all reasonable steps are taken towards minimising the risks.”
Its report highlights concerns among fire experts that installation practices and materials used in some cladding systems are unsafe.
Witnesses told the committee that the material used in some cladding systems could melt and fall on people and that, over time, the fire resistance of other materials became degraded. They also expressed concern that the cavity between the cladding and the material behind it created an air channel that aided the rapid spread of fire.
Stephen Ledbetter, head of the Centre for Cladding Technology at the University of Bath, who also gave evidence to the committee, added: “Any local authority that doesn’t consider taking action on existing property is skating on thin ice. We should be bringing all buildings up to standard.”
A spokesperson for the Housing Corporation said that it was aware of the recommendations, but that they would affect less than 10% of Housing Corporation stock. He said: “It’s something local authorities will have to get to grips with.”
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said the council did not use the type of cladding system believed to have been at fault in the Ayrshire fire on its tower blocks.
Other local authorities said they were unaware of the report and declined to comment.
North Ayrshire council, which owned the block where the fire took place, removed the windows and the cladding system from other blocks on the estate. A spokesperson said the council was aware of the recommendations but that it was too early to comment. He added that replacing the external window panels alone on the four blocks in the estate would cost £800 000.
Dr Jerry Hodge, manager of risk science with the Loss Prevention Council, and another witness called before the committee, said the cost of retro-fitting tower blocks would not be covered by insurance.
