[SystemSafety] Fire Safety and Reasonableness

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

People such as myself who observe inquiry processes after an accident have noted that it takes a
certain period of time for certain facts and reasoning to make their weight apparent. I used to say
that up to two weeks after an aircraft accident you have to treat anything, no matter what the
apparent pedigree, as potential nonsense.

A month after the Grenfell tower fire, certain things are becoming clearer.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/12/answers-to-the-grenfell-tower-wall-of-questions ,
sections entitled "How many other Grenfells are there?" and "Who developed and promoted a building
insulation foam that was not fireproof?" are worth reading.

First,  it is becoming generally recognised that it is not just the cladding, it is the entire
wall-covering construction that leads to, resp. hinders the spread of fire. Second (not yet
contained in the observations) there is no such concept as "fireproof": all materials have a
temperature of spontaneous combustion. The issue here is what temperatures you can expect in a fire
and why. Third, I haven't come across any evidence that either Alcoa/Arconix or St. Gobain
misrepresented in any way to any party the properties of their products. Fourth, as far as I know,
no evidence has yet come to light that the building construction companies involved in the Grenfell
Tower external refurbishment failed in their general duty of due diligence.

The problem that I see here is that the building regulations engender a form of strict liability -
thy facade shall not erupt in flames - but it is not clear on whom. The regulatory guidance says, in
contrast, it is OK if you do it this way, or this. The major issue is ensuring that the guidance is
adequate to the regulation.

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
MoreInCommon
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de





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