10  The Grenfell Tower fire

Aluminium composite cladding material

The renovation of Grenfell Tower involved the building being externally
clad with a ventilated rainscreen system designed to protect the building
from direct rainfall with a cavity behind the outer skin to ensure that any
rainwater was collected and drained away to prevent it from penetrating
into the building. The rainscreen panels were known as “Reynobond 55
PE” Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP). Each panel consisted of two
0.5 mm thick aluminium sheets bonded to a 3 mm central plastic (poly-
ethylene) core. Behind the panels was a layer of insulation fixed directly
to the building. On the spandrels this, predominantly, consisted of two
80 mm layers of Celotex RS5000 PIR polymer foam with one 100 mm
layer of the same insulation being affixed to the columns.
Before being installed, the panels were fitted into “cassettes” which
were hung onto aluminium or steel supports affixed to the concrete
structure. This left a 50 mm cavity between the inside face of the rain-
screen panel and the outer face of the insulation to allow the ventilation
and drainage of any rainwater that penetrated the gaps between the ex-
ternal cladding panels. Smaller cavities, with no design function, were
also formed between the face of the insulation board and the columns.
The problem with PIR foams is that they have a comparatively low
time to ignition, and so they support rapid flame spread. In addition
to this, the PIR foam in the cavities accelerated the spread of flame on
adjacent materials.8 See Figure 2, which is a horizontal section detail of
the external wall system illustrating the position of the cavities between
the insulation and the cladding.
At Grenfell, the vertical flame spread could also be explained by the
cavities producing chimney effects, that is, the upward movement of hot
air in enclosed vertical spaces. However, Professor Torreo concluded
that given the relatively slow rate of vertical flame spread in comparison
to other similar fires, the detailing of the external cladding system had
only a minor effect. The important factor in the rate and extent of the
flame spread was the composition of the materials used.
Cavity barriers were installed as part of the over-cladding system.
They comprised an intumescent strip which expands in the event of a
fire to seal the gap between the barrier and the rear of the cladding pan-
els. However, cavity barriers were not provided to all the columns and
no cavity barriers were present at the top of the columns nor at the head
of the rainscreen cladding. Evidence presented to the inquiry outlined
two major problems:

a The cavity barriers were prevented from being continuous due to

the presence of the cladding rails supporting the ACM panels.
 The Grenfell Tower fire  11

Figure 2 Horizontal Section Through the External Wall System.

(Credit Professor Bisby supplemental report [LBYS0000001] p. 43 Fig. 16.)