Shortly after the fire at Grenfell Tower, the independent expert advisory panel advised the government to undertake identification screening of residential buildings over 18 metres tall (in accordance with building regulations guidance on rain-screen cladding). This is in order to identify the type of aluminium composite material (ACM) used.
Those checking tests began at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) the following week.
On 6 July 2017, having also spoken to a group of technical experts from a wide range of professions and organisations, the expert panel recommended further large scale testing of cladding systems. This was to better understand better how different types of ACM panels behave with different types of insulation in a fire (these tests can be used to show compliance with the building regulations guidance).
These large scale tests, undertaken by the BRE, looked at 3 different types of ACM cladding combined with different types of insulation, in accordance with British Standard 8414. This involved building a 9-metre high demonstration wall with a complete cladding system fixed to it – including panels and insulation. This was then subjected to a fire designed to replicate the circumstances in which a severe fire breaks out of a window. The spreads of the fire up the outside wall, if any, was then monitored.
See the final consolidated advice after all the tests.
Fire test report
ACM category and insulation type
Advice note
Fire test report 1 – 28 July 2017
Category 3 – Foam Insulation
Advice note 4 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 1 – 28 July 2017
Fire test report 2 – 3 August 2017
Category 3 – Mineral Wool
Advice note 5 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 2 – 2 August 2017
Fire test report 3 – 8 August 2017
Category 2 – PIR foam
Advice note 6 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 3 – 8 August 2017
Fire test report 4 – 11 August 2017
Category 2 – Mineral Wool
Advice note 7 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 4 – 11 August 2017
Fire test report 5 – 14 August 2017
Category 1 – Foam Insulation
Advice note 8 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 5 – 14 August 2017
Fire test report 6 – 25 August 2017
Category 1 – Mineral Wool
Advice note 10 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 6 – 25 August 2017
Fire test report 7 – 21 August 2017
Category 2 – Phenolic Foam
Advice note 9 – Advice for building owners: large-scale wall system test 7 – 21 August 2017
Additional fire test reports on other cladding combinations in accordance with British Standard 8414 can be found on the BRE website.
The Industry Response Group was established by government in June 2017 to advise on immediate steps to ensure building safety. It complements the work of the Expert Panel.
In consultation with the Industry Response Group, independent expert advisory panel, building owners, and other experts, the government has developed an information note to assist building owners in considering what measures to take to make buildings safe – and how they could carry out remedial works on high rise residential buildings with ACM cladding.
Information note 1 – Information note for landlords and building owners of tall residential buildings with ACM cladding
It is the responsibility of building owners in the private residential sector to carry out necessary measures to ensure the safety of their residents.
Since June, the government has been urging owners of private residential buildings over 18 metres to make urgent use of the free ACM screening tests, and to report the results to local authorities so that private sector blocks with ACM cladding systems can be identified.
We are also working with local authorities to identify privately owned residential buildings over 18 metres with ACM cladding systems. Financial support to local authorities for the work needed to collect data on high rise residential buildings and report on cladding was provided in line with the new burdens doctrine.
Work to reach private sector landlords continues – through industry bodies including the Home Builders Federation, Association of Residential Letting Agents, and the British Property Federation.
On 9 May 2019 the Secretary of State announced that the government will fully fund the removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on private sector residential buildings 18 metres or over, with costs estimated at ￡ 200 million.
See further detail on how responsible entities can apply to the private sector ACM cladding remediation fund.
This is a list of corporate entities that have indicated to the department that they are taking on the responsibility for the remediation of unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, but where at least one of their buildings does not yet have a plan in place.
The entities are the department’s main contact for the remediation of a specific building, or we understand that they are the decision makers on remediation (though they may have other entities working on their behalf).
Entities are excluded from this list if:
it would lead to the identification of a specific building with unsafe ACM cladding
the entity is awaiting further advice from public authorities about the remediation of unsafe ACM cladding; or
where those responsible for remediation are in administration
To have a plan in place, the entity needs to have started tendering for the works. The entities listed below that do not have a plan in place:
may have worked with BRE to test what is on their building
be at the early stages of a fund application
be looking at alternative avenues to take forward remediation; or
have conducted surveys and are preparing tendering documentation
Adriatic Land 3 Limited
Chaplair Limited
Grangewalk Developments Limited
RMB 102 Limited
STG Management (London) Limited
This list will be updated periodically.
MHCLG collects and holds information about residential buildings over 18 metres in England (including hotels and student accommodation) and some buildings owned by the public sector, in particular those which have Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.
The data enables the department to formulate a policy response to the discovery of what appears to be unsafe cladding on a number of buildings in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire and to assure itself and its stakeholders that fire safety risks (including cladding and any other significant risks identified) to these buildings are being managed. Where this includes personal data, MHCLG is the data controller.
The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection @ communities.gov.uk. Find out more about how the Building Safety Programme handles data responsibly.
Aggregate data related to the Building Safety Programme are published at regular intervals. The data release has a particular focus on buildings identified with ACM cladding by tenure and remediation progress. Data releases can be found below.
Data update 36 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – May 2020
Data update 35 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – April 2020
Data update 34 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – March 2020
Data update 33 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – February 2020
Data update 32 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – January 2020
Data update 31 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – December 2019
Data update 30 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – November 2019
Data update 29 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – October 2019
Data update 28 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – September 2019
Data update 27 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – August 2019
Data update 26 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – July 2019 – 15 August 2019
Data update 25 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – June 2019 – 11 July 2019
Data update 24 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – May 2019 – 10 June 2019
Data update 23 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – April 2019 – 9 May 2019
Data update 22 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – March 2019 – 11 April 2019
Data update 21 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – February 2019 – 7 March 2019
Data update 20 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – January 2019 – 7 February 2019
Data update 19 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – December 2018 – 10 January 2019
Data update 18 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – November 2018 – 6 December 2018
Data update 17 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – end October 2018 – 8 November 2018
Data update 16 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – October 2018 – 25 October 2018
Data update 15 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – September 2018 – 20 September 2018
Data update 14 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – August 2018 – 23 August 2018
Data update 13 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – July 2018 – 23 July 2018
Data update 12 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – June 2018 – 28 June 2018
Data update 11 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – May 2018 – 31 May 2018
Data update 10 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – April 2018 – 27 April 2018
Data update 9 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – March 2018 – 28 March 2018
Data update 8 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – February 2018 – 27 February 2018
Data update 7 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – January 2018 – 22 January 2018
Data update 6 – Building Safety Programme: monthly data release – December 2017 – 18 December 2017
Data update 5 – Secretary of state letter to Members of Parliament – 25 October 2017
Data update 4 – Update and consolidated advice for building owners following large-scale testing – 5 September 2017
Data update 3 – Secretary of state oral statement to parliament on Grenfell Tower – 5 September 2017
Data update 2 – Sajid Javid’s statement on the government response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy – 20 July 2017
Data update 1 – Cladding sample testing update – 25 June 2017
Following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, the government commissioned a series of large scale fire tests of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding. These were intended to establish how different types of ACM panels in combination with different types of insulation behave in a fire.
Fire test report 1 – 28 July 2017
Fire test report 2 – 3 August 2017
Fire test report 3 – 8 August 2017
Fire test report 4 – 11 August 2017
Fire test report 5 – 14 August 2017
Fire test report 6 – 25 August 2017
Fire test report 7 – 21 August 2017