Research commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has discovered serious inadequacies in the laboratory tests currently used to check the fire safety of building materials in the wake of Grenfell.
The Fire Protection Association (FPA) carried out a series of experiments that recreated more realistic building conditions than those in which the standard tests are done, in an effort to measure what difference these factors could make in the event of a fire.
According to the FPA’s research, the real-life factors overlooked by the official testing regime include:
- Test fires that are only made up of wood. In modern blazes, around 20% of the materials involved are plastic
- Cladding materials are sometimes tested as a sealed unit, whereas when fitted on a building they often include gaps, and cover a far more extensive area
- Materials tested will be in manufacturer condition, but during their actual use will often be pierced by things such as vents or ducts
In its submission to the independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, which is being led by Dame Judith Hackitt and was launched in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire that took the lives of 71 residents in 2017, the ABI called for an end to the use of all but non-combustible materials in construction, and a reformed testing regime that replicates real world conditions to provide genuine evidence of how materials perform in a fire.
The results of these latest tests all reinforce the importance of urgent reform, the ABI said.