By Professor John Robertson OBA
In just Volume 1 of the 7 volume Grenfell inquiry report released today, there are 36 references to the cavity barriers designed and provided by Siderise – Integrity in all we do (!) to prevent a ‘chimney effect‘ allowing fire to surge up the space between new cladding and the original wall, revealing a regular failure to fit them or to fit them wrongly.
Despite that it seems:
Following an initial assessment by a local authority building control surveyor and a second stage review by a group of experts, it issued certificates verifying the compliance of construction products and systems with the Building Regulations and Approved Documents.
I had thought, perhaps, that such barriers were not required by building regulations in England but tragically they were. Local Authority inspectors were clearly taken out of the loop by Conservative Party ministers and local governments.
Regular readers will know what was happening in Scotland at the same time, but just in case:
In March 2024:
Third tower block fire in Scotland contained on one floor with no casualties proves no Grenfell risk here
The Scottish media is full of accusations that the SNP Government is failing to spend the ‘almost £100m from the UK government‘ on fireproof cladding to avert a Grenfell ‘towering inferno‘ here.
From BBC Scotland this morning:
Residents have been evacuated after a fire broke out at flats in Edinburgh in the early hours of the morning.
Around 45 firefighters have been tackling the blaze in Breadalbane Street, Leith, with Police Scotland also in attendance.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it sent nine fire engines and a height appliance to the scene after the alarm was raised at 04:10.
It said the building had been evacuated and there were no reports of any injuries.
Conservative MSP for Central Scotland Graham Simpson, who has a property in the block, was among the residents evacuated.
He said: “It started on the fifth floor and it’s spread up to the sixth floor and it seems it has gone into the stair well.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czvz0xg81z8o
On the spread to the sixth floor, you can see some spread via balcony materials but critically no surge behind the wall-cladding.
Regular readers here know why, but first, there have been two other fires in 2021 and in 2022, with similar non spread to other floors.
These Scottish blocks also had flammable cladding yet, in no case, did the fire spread up the floors to create a towering inferno effect and kill:
2021, one floor, no deaths.
In Glasgow again in 2022, one man taken to hospital,
Why?
This:
Reader Gordon Darge wrote for us in January 2020:
As a chartered architect in Scotland for 40 years I can confirm that the Building Regulations Technical Standards Scotland have for two decades required cavity fire barriers
2.4 Cavities
Mandatory Standard
Standard 2.4
Every building must be designed and constructed in such a way that in the event of an outbreak of fire within the building, the spread of fire and smoke within cavities in its structure and fabric is inhibited.
This includes for example, around the head, jambs and sill of an external door or window opening, at all floor levels and building corners etc. to prevent the spread of fire in building cavities. This would have prevented the spread of the fire at Grenfell Tower.
This is difficult and expensive to achieve and I can only guess that in England they did not follow the Scottish model because Westminster and the Tories were led by the vested interests of big business, property developers and large construction firms.
For anyone wanting more info see:
Finally, from statistics around the time of Grenfell
In Scotland 2015/16, 9 827 safety audits were carried out. England has 10 times the population and so, all things being equal, might have been expected to have seen 98 270 fire safety audits. However, in 2017/18, England saw only 49 423 fire safety audits, just over half the number. Fire safety audits in Scotland are thus almost twice as common, per head of population, in Scotland as in England.
Why? Cost-cutting Tory local authorities? Cost-cutting Tory central government?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
I’d caution against drawing conclusions from ” ..it issued certificates verifying the compliance of construction products and systems with the Building Regulations and Approved Documents “, all it means is the proposed system concept complied with or exceeded requirements…
It was not only ” Local Authority inspectors ” who were ” taken out of the loop “, LFB were similarly bypassed as Kensington Tories pushed the ” cut red tape ” rhetoric, even allowing the Contractor to self-certify it’s own work.
Kensington Tories ” cut red tape ” and 72 lives short….
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And thus far, got away with it…
That’s how the ‘system’ works…
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Grenfell report… complete failure of successive Uk Governments, Greed, incompetence and Corruption which I guess pretty well sums up the English and why Grenfell tragedy could not happen in Scotland. Shameful stuff.
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Grenfall Report is staggering. A failure by every agencies. A cover up by firms using the materials. Knowing they were not safe. Lack of control and lack of government influence to ensure safety. They should end up in jail. If there is any justice. The negligent firms employees refusing to answer for their actions. Using an old French Law not to participate. Totally unlawful.
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https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/fire-barrier-installation-on-grenfell-some-of-the-worst-ive-seen-says-supplier-69928
Fire barrier installation on Grenfell ‘some of the worst I’ve seen’, says supplier
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