Report on Grenfell Tower fire finds Irish company Kingspan made 'false claim' about product

A report into the Grenfell Tower fire in London which killed 72 people in 2017, has found that Irish company Kingspan made a "false claim" in regard to its insulation product K15 which was used in the construction of the tower block.

The report, published this Wednesday, found that the tragedy that unfolded in June 2017 "was the culmination of decades of failure by central government (in the UK) and other bodies in positions of responsibility in the construction industry."

In the report, the Cavan based company Kingspan is cited for its involvement in the construction of the building alongside other construction companies such as Celotex and Arconic Architectural Products, as well as key UK governmental bodies such as the Building Research Establishment (BRE) which was responsible for carrying out research into and the testing of construction methods and products.

In regard to Kingspan, the report found that the company "knowingly created a false market in insulation for use on buildings over 18 metres in height by claiming that K15 had been part of a system successfully tested under BS 8414 and could therefore be used in the external wall of any building over 18 metres in height regardless of its design or other components."

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The report says the company was aware that K15 was unsuitable for use in the external walls of buildings over 18 metres in height, "but that is what it had succeeded in doing for many years."

According to the report, Kingspan "cynically exploited" the industry's lack of detailed knowledge about insulation and cladding fire safety tests, as it "relied on the fact that an unsuspecting market was very likely to rely on its own claim about the product."

The inquiry concluded that the "dishonest strategies" of Kingspan, and another company Arconic Architectural Products, succeeded in a large measure due to the incompetence of the compliance certification organisation, the British Board of
Agrément (BBA). 

Kingspan has said that their K15 insulation product was used without their knowledge, and that it made up only 5% of the insulation in Grenfell Tower. 

In response to the report, Kingspan extended its deepest sympathies to all impacted by the fire at Grenfell Tower. Kingspan said it welcomed the publication of the report, saying it was "crucial to a public understanding of what went wrong and why."

In its statement, Kingspan said the report "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."

The company statement added: "Kingspan 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."