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materials; an imperfect world; standards; detection and evacuation; engineered solutions; data; awareness; impact of other parts of BRs; sprinklers; and consequences of previous reviews and legislative changes. For those who have read Dame Judith’s
report, I feel certain many elements of that list will be familiar. She has dealt with some of the topics quite comprehensively, so I won’t go over them in detail here. Instead, I will concentrate on the areas where as an insurance community we still have concerns.
Clarity and interpretation
It was clear that irrespective of the specifics of the Grenfell Tower fire, many hundreds of other tower blocks (and other premises, hospitals for example) around the UK were clad in similar products. As most of you will be well aware, product selection through ADB may be made by three specific routes: prescription, full scale built up system testing or desktop study. There was, and despite the expert
panel’s best efforts, still is, confusion as to whether cladding systems are legally compliant, and if not, what they should be replaced with, if it transpires that the majority use is ‘illegal’. We have argued that consideration must be given to the apparently endemic misinterpretation or ignoring of the regulations and/or Approved Documents (ADs) by those both designing and approving buildings. If it turns out that
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their use has been legitimised, then the soundness of the case made, methods used and persons involved clearly needs scrutiny. So without restricting the issue to cladding,
we believe that we needed to highlight common places where the ADs and regulatory framework lack clarity in key areas of interest to UK insurers. These were the issues that contravene the underlying ‘Essential Principles of Property Protection Fire Protection’, as outlined by RISCAuthority and other guidance from the FPA. From an insurers’ perspective, what are the essential principles? These are probably fundamental to what the industry wants from codes, standards and regulation:
1. The building shall be constructed and protected in such a manner that if a fire starts, the extent of fire and smoke damage will be minimised and confined as close to the source of fire outbreak as is practical/feasible.
2. With the exception of non structural joinery products, the building shall be constructed from building materials/ products that will not make a significant contribution to the early stages of a fire or contribute to the spread of fire.
3. Suitable measures will be taken for the prevention of premature structural collapse and excessive deflection.
4. Consideration should be given at the design stage regarding potential damage from firefighting water and to
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