Written question asked by Andrew Gwynne (Labour) on Thursday, 20 July 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 September 2017. It was answered by Lord Sharma (Conservative) on Thursday, 14 September 2017 on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Insulation: Testing

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the testing regime to establish the legality of cladding.

Answer: In line with expert advice, the first step to identify other buildings of concern following the Grenfell Tower tragedy was initial screening tests on Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding samples. These generic tests are identifying which blocks have cladding which is not of limited combustibility, as defined in current Building Regulations guidance. The independent expert advisory panel recommended further large scale testing of cladding systems be undertaken according to the British Standard BS8414-1 and classified to BR135, the standard set out in current Building Regulations guidance. The large scale system tests provide more information about how cladding systems behave in a fire. The large scale tests are now complete and results can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/latest-government-large-scale-fire-safety-test-results-published

Secondary information