75 UK tower blocks fail fire safety checks

Every tower block examined since Grenfell Tower blaze fails fire safety checks.

A total of 75 high-rise buildings across 26 local authority areas have been found to have flammable cladding, since the emergency fire safety checks begun last week. The checks were prioritised following the Grenfell Tower tragedy recently, where 79 people died in the the west London blaze.

Communities minister Sajid Javid told the Commons that the so-called combustibility test had been failed by every building examined so far.

The tests involve grading the material from one to three on a scale of fire-resistance in order to determine if it meets the requirements for limited combustibility in building regulations.

He said: “The fact that all samples so far have failed underlines the value of the testing programme and the vital importance of submitting samples urgently.

“I am concerned about the speed at which samples are being submitted.

“I would urge all landlords to submit their samples immediately.”

Camden tower blocks were evacuated over the weekend, following the discovery that 1,000 fire doors were missing.

“When the commissioners went into those tower blocks in Camden, in their own words, they found multiple fire safety inspection failures, failures which frankly should not have happened in tower blocks of any type, certainly those tower blocks in Camden,” he told MPs.

“For example there were problems with gas pipe insulation, there were stairways that were not accessible, there were breaches of internal walls and most astonishingly there were hundreds, literally hundreds, of fire doors missing.”

Mr Javid has urged local authorities to take action as he revealed that hospitals and schools will also be tested to make sure they meet all fire safety regulations and are not encased in combustible cladding.

The US supplier of the covering has announced it has stopped its sales for high-rise buildings.

The government are said to be facing a £600M bill to increase the fire safety of the tower blocks and update them to meet the required regulations.

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