Fire safety double standard revealed in Grenfell aftermath
Grenfell Tower was on the wrong side of a fire safety double standard that protects businesses over people, Sky News reveals.
Thursday 6 July 2017 21:46, UK
Improved fire safety standards that could have prevented the Grenfell Tower disaster are promoted to businesses by the same company that advises the Government on building regulations.
Fire experts say the combustible cladding blamed for the rapidly spreading fire in Grenfell Tower could never have been fitted under the stricter standards.
The scheme, known as LPCB, is owned by fire testing firm BRE, which is also paid by the Government to advise on building regulations.
BRE advises clients that cladding approved by LPCB is "reducing the risks to businesses and property".
Last year it told ministers that regulations from potentially combustible building materials.
LPCB is endorsed by the UK's chief fire and rescue adviser, Peter Holland, who is a former director of BRE.
In a document seen by Sky News he says the scheme is needed to reduce business disruption which is "bad from a PR perspective".
The head of the Fire Protection Association, Jonathan O'Neill, told Sky News that LPCB addresses shortcomings in the statutory regulations that Grenfell Tower relied on.
"Insurers are writing their own building regulations in addition to the current building regulations because the current ones just don't do the job of maintaining building integrity," he said.
BRE also makes money from the much better LPCB safety standards - the last time it disclosed how much money it made from the scheme was in 2000, where it posted a turnover of £3.3m.
In a statement BRE told Sky News: "LPCB has nothing to do with building regulations."