According to Sir Martin Moore-Blick, chair of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, Arconic, Celotex and Kingspan displayed 鈥渟ystematic dishonesty鈥� and 鈥渄eliberate manipulation鈥� to get their products used in the 2015 refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
Here鈥檚 what they had to say in return.
Arconic
鈥淎rconic鈥檚 subsidiary, Arconic Architectural Products SAS (AAP), supplied sheets of aluminium composite material that were used to manufacture the rainscreen for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment.
鈥淭he fire was a terrible tragedy and as Arconic remembers the 72 people who died, our thoughts remain with the families, friends and all of those affected.
鈥淎AP was a core participant in the inquiry and has acknowledged its role as one of the material suppliers involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.
鈥淭he company respects the Inquiry process. AAP cooperated fully with the work of the Inquiry and will continue to engage with further legal processes. Together with other parties, AAP has made financial contributions to settlements for those affected, as well as to the restorative justice fund.
鈥淭hroughout the inquiry, AAP has maintained a number of points:
- AAP sold sheets of aluminium composite material as specified in the design process. This product was safe to use as a building material, and legal to sell in the UK as well as the more than thirty other countries in which AAP customers purchased the product. We reject any claim that AAP sold an unsafe product.
- AAP regularly conducted tests of its materials using third-party testing bodies. Reports on these results were all publicly available, and AAP made these reports available to its customers.
- AAP did not conceal information from or mislead any certification body, customer, or the public.鈥�
Celotex
鈥淭he publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report marks the conclusion of the Inquiry鈥檚 work and we are considering its contents with care.聽 We acknowledge the scale and significance of the exercise undertaken by the Inquiry as it has considered the many, complex and inter-related issues which arise in relation to the building, its refurbishment and the fire.聽 We recognise and endorse the need to ensure that public confidence in the safety of high-rise residential buildings in the UK, and in the construction industry as a whole, is fully restored.聽 The work of the Inquiry is fundamental to achieving that objective.
鈥淭hrough its participation in the Inquiry process and its own internal investigations, Celotex Limited has sought to understand and learn from the issues raised by the fire.聽 We are committed to playing our part in ensuring that no such tragedy occurs again.
鈥淥ur business鈥� response started immediately after the fire in June 2017.聽 We conducted our own review to interrogate the circumstances in which the RS5000 product had been tested, launched and marketed.聽 This review was a significant and thorough undertaking, and the results of that work were disclosed promptly and proactively to all relevant stakeholders including the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.聽 Information was uncovered through the review that was previously unknown to the management of the company at the time of the Grenfell Tower fire.聽 The company took appropriate action.
鈥淚ndependent testing commissioned following the review demonstrated that the cladding system described in Celotex RS5000 marketing literature met the relevant safety criteria.聽 鈥淲e also understand that government-testing in August 2017 showed that a cladding system incorporating RS5000 and a non-combustible aluminium cladding panel met the relevant standards.聽 These systems were substantially different from that used at Grenfell Tower, which incorporated combustible cladding panels.聽 Celotex Limited does not design and install cladding systems and did not do so at Grenfell Tower. The design and construction of the facade at Grenfell Tower and the selection of the various components, were decisions made by construction industry professionals.
鈥淪ince the fire, we reviewed and improved process controls, quality management and the approach to marketing within the Celotex business to address the issues discovered and ensure that the culture, systems and processes relating to product compliance and product safety meet industry best practice.
鈥淐elotex Limited continues to cooperate fully with all official investigations into the Grenfell Tower fire.聽
鈥淲e reiterate our sympathies to everyone affected by the fire.鈥�
Kingspan
鈥淭oday is another extremely difficult day for the relatives and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire and we extend our deepest sympathies to those impacted by the tragedy.
We welcome the publication of today鈥檚 report which is crucial to a public understanding of what went wrong and why. It explains clearly and unambiguously that the type of insulation (whether combustible or non-combustible) was immaterial, and that the principal reason for the fire spread was the PE ACM cladding, which was not made by Kingspan.
鈥淜ingspan has long acknowledged the wholly unacceptable historical failings that occurred in part of our UK insulation business. These were in no way reflective of how we conduct ourselves as a Group, then or now. While deeply regrettable, they were not found to be causative of the tragedy.
鈥淜ingspan has already emphatically addressed these issues, including the implementation of extensive and externally-verified measures to ensure our conduct and compliance standards are world leading.
鈥淲e remain committed to playing a leading role in providing safe and sustainable building solutions, including continuing to work with government and industry partners.鈥�
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