Building and Construction Industry Not fireproof The polymer-filled panels are flammable and the melting plastic quickens the spread of the fire. In addition, the installation on the Grenfell Tower left a 50 mm gap between the cladding and the insulation behind it. The ventilated cavity assisted in spreading the fire faster. The UK government has sought an independent expert panel, the Building Research Establishment (BRE), to carry out tests that would determine how different types of ACM panels with different types of insulation behave in a fire, according to an early July statement by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
China's Beijing Mandarin hotel, fitted with foam-filled exterior cladding, was also brought down by fire in 2009
A fire also brought down the 23-storey mixeduse Lacrosse building in Australia; while scores of other buildings cloaked in combustible exterior panels may also be at risk of fires. Despite warnings from stakeholders, ACM claddings are still being used. For project handlers of the Grenfell upgrade, who allegedly opted to install the material that is cheaper by £2 per sq m and the non-fire rated Reynobond PE panel, instead of the fire-retardant Reynobond FR, the message conveyed was that cost-cutting took precedence over safety.
Shown here is a sample of the cladding, used in buildings nearby Grenfell Tower, that has also been tested
The testing process aims to identify whether the submitted ACM cladding sample meets the limited combustibility requirements of current building regulations. Meanwhile, the samples taken from 75 other buildings reportedly failed the fire retardancy tests. Lessons unlearnt It was not the first time that ACM was highlighted as a denominator in building fires worldwide. Similar events linked to ACM with plastic cores also occurred in Dubai in 2016 with The Address, then the country’s 18 th tallest skyscraper; and in previous years there were other fires that involved buildings built before 2012. This was when compliance to the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice on Fire Performance of Aluminium Composite Panel, which was then in vogue, was mandatory. In China, flames exacerbated by foam-filled exterior cladding engulfed the 159-m tall Beijing Mandarin Oriental Hotel in 2009; and an eightstorey apartment building in 2010, resulting in injuries and deaths.
ACM and suppliers take the heat Aluminium, a precious metal that was commercially produced in 1886, has become an industrial material for civil applications since the 1950s. It gained fame in 1898 when it was used as cladding for the dome of San Gioacchino’s Church in Rome, Italy. Aluminium, a precious metal which was commercially produced in 1886, has become an industrial material for civil applications since the 1950s
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