London — More than 300 high rise buildings in the United Kingdom still have aluminum composite rain screen panels or are fitted with similar materials, according to a government and local communities committee, three years after similar cladding was blamed in speeding the spread of a fire that killed 72 people.
"[The number] doesn't include the many thousands of buildings of all heights with other forms of combustible cladding or those buildings with serious fire safety defects, including combustible insulation, timber balconies and walkways, missing fire breaks and faulty fire doors," the committee added.
Committee members claim that there could be as many as 11,300 buildings with other forms of combustible cladding. Of these, 1,700 are deemed high risk.
"Three years since the Grenfell Tower fire, to still have 2,000 high-risk residential buildings with dangerous cladding is deeply shocking and completely unacceptable," the committee said.
Over the past three years, it has recommended a ban on combustible cladding on high-rise buildings, funding for the remediation of buildings with any form of dangerous cladding, the installation of sprinkler systems where structurally feasible, and a clear deadline by which these should be achieved.
The report, Cladding: Progress of Remediation is the result of an inquiry launched in March. Its aim was to investigate the concerns around the pace of remedial work, the costs to residents and wider fire safety concerns.
The report is available online.