黑洞社区

A former managing director of a building control body joked that the issue of a misleading certificate for a combustible insulation product used on Grenfell tower had been 鈥渂urning for a LONG time鈥�.

Lorna Stimpson had been referring to a certificate issued by the Local Authority 黑洞社区 Control (LABC) for Kingspan鈥檚 K15 insulation which wrongly suggested it was a material of 鈥榣imited combustibility鈥�.

K15 was never specified for the disastrous refurbishment of Grenfell Tower but was found to be included in its cladding system following the fire which claimed 72 lives in June 2017.

The LABC鈥檚 certificate was used by Kingspan as a key element of its marketing material to help K15 gain a dominant position in the insulation market for high rise buildings.

Tuesday鈥檚 hearing was told how the LABC ignored repeated warnings about the certificate鈥檚 wording, which appeared to clear the product for general use above 18m despite relying on a test which had only passed because it had been used in combination with other materials.

Concerns were raised again in October 2014 by the National House 黑洞社区 Council (NHBC), another building control body, which said it was 鈥渦nhappy with its use, and [is] looking for industry-wide shutdown鈥�.

The LABC was also told that fire tests of K15 had shown it continuing to burn for 20 minutes after the flame was stopped.

Thursday鈥檚 hearing saw an email from former LABC director of technical policy Barry Turner in which he said he would talk with the NHBC but was 鈥渘ot going to say or admit to anything at this stage鈥�.

Inquiry counsel Kate Grange QC asked Turner: 鈥淒id you think at that point about issuing a warning to your members to say, well, there鈥檚 a problem here, we鈥檝e been issuing certificates for many years now for the K15 product and those certificates have inaccurate information on them?鈥�

Turner replied: 鈥淚 left it to the others that were dealing with the matter鈥� to follow that up.鈥�

The inquiry was then shown an email by Stimpson, who is now LABC chief executive, in January 2015 in which she wrote: 鈥淭his issue has been burning for a LONG time though, hasn鈥檛 it? (Get it !!!!) Why is it raising its head again all of a sudden?鈥�

David Ewing, then an LABC technical manager and now the body鈥檚 head of education, replied saying that the NHBC special risks teams had been 鈥渏umping up and down鈥� because several large sites were 鈥渁ll using the material outside of the tested specification鈥�.

Grange asked Turner: 鈥淲hy wasn鈥檛 the LABC jumping up and down, thinking to itself , 鈥榃ow, K15鈥檚 going to have been used on multiple projects because of our certificates for years, we need to get on top of this problem quickly鈥�?鈥�

Turner replied: 鈥淭hat is not a question for me to answer.

鈥淭he correspondence that you have indicated and that particular letter shows that it is being considered by LABC, maybe not as quickly as you infer it should have been, but it was being considered.鈥�

Turner had previously said the use of K15 outside of its tested scope was 鈥渁n insurance issue rather than compliance with regs鈥�.

Referring to the email thread with Stimpson and Ewing, Grange asked Turner: 鈥渁ll we can see really is you saying it鈥檚 a warranty insurance issue and you鈥檙e not suggesting we should do any more. Why not?鈥�

Turner said that he had been 鈥渞epeating information passed to me by others.鈥�

Grange then asked: 鈥淪o it never occurred to you at the time that there might be some pretty serious public safety considerations that LABC needed to be working through as a matter of urgency in relation to the K15 product?鈥�

Turner responded: 鈥淣ot as a matter of urgency. It was being worked through.鈥�

Earlier this week the inquiry heard how the LABC had sought a lucrative sponsorship deal with Kingspan, in which the insulation manufacturer was offered 鈥渄irect outreach鈥� to customers 鈥渢hrough referrals鈥�.

Turner had said that the body needed income as it was not being provided by either the government or from local authorities.

Earlier this year, LABC building control officer David Jones told the inquiry how he had felt 鈥減ressured鈥� by his employer into providing a certificate for K15.

The inquiry has also heard how Kingspan was a 鈥渟ignificant source of revenue鈥� for testing body the 黑洞社区 Research Establishment, and that the firm had threatened the NHBC with legal action after the building control body had exposed the flawed tests for K15.

The inquiry continues.