Professional Documents
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cladding is used to provide a degree of thermal insulation and weather resistance, and to improve the
appearance of buildings.
Cladding can be made of any of a wide range of materials including wood, metal, brick, vinyl, and
composite materials that can include aluminium, wood, blends of cement and recycled polystyrene, or
wheat/rice straw fibres.[2] Materials used for cladding affect vulnerability to fire.
Rainscreen cladding is a form of weather cladding designed to protect against the elements, but also
offers thermal insulation. The cladding does not need, itself, to be waterproof, merely a control element: it
may serve only to direct water or wind safely away in order to control run-off and prevent its infiltration into
the building structure.
Single-skin metal panels are pre-formed wall panels made from metal that are one of the most commonly
available types of cladding for industrial and commercial projects. Their high durability and easy
installation make them ideal for low maintenance builds.
Cladding may also be a control element for noise, either entering or escaping.
Cladding applied to windows is often referred to as window capping and is a specialized field.
The cladding in use at Grenfell Tower was aluminium composite material or ACM and is dangerously
combustible. High-pressure laminate or HPL has also proved seriously unsafe and cladding panels
made from compressed paper or wood will clearly be combustible. The Government also has
concerns about MCM cladding – Metal Composite Materials – which use zinc, copper or steel.
Cladding weatherproofs a building and has great insulating properties so it is particularly beneficial for
older buildings with poor environmental certification. It also looks aesthetically pleasing and can
considerably improve the appearance of older, concrete properties built in the later years of the 20th
century.