A Reuters investigation reveals that despite government promises, contractors responsible for installing flammable cladding on public housing buildings have largely avoided financial penalties seven years after the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
When the deadly Grenfell Tower blaze in 2017 led to revelations that high-rise public housing buildings across Britain were wrapped in flammable cladding, the government vowed the building contractors responsible would pay for their negligence. Seven years on, contractors who fitted cladding panels that didn't meet fire-safety standards in place when installed have largely escaped financial liability, according to a Reuters review of more than 100 buildings.
Cladding is a skin of insulating materials applied to the walls of a new or existing building to improve its thermal performance. The Grenfell Tower blaze, which killed 72 people, raised public awareness that thousands of buildings in the UK were clad in flammable materials. To quickly tackle the problem, the British government put up much of the money to allow the replacement of flammable cladding on subsidized public housing. Then, to recoup the taxpayer money spent, the housing ministry said it would work with the buildings’ owners to encourage legal claims against contractors who installed defective cladding. Under UK law, the owner of a property that has been refurbished in a way that doesn't meet building regulations in place at the time, can sue the contractors and designers responsible, and in some cases the manufacturer of the materials used, for the costs of remediation. The Reuters review identified 103 public housing buildings, owned by 26 local councils and not-for-profit housing associations, which had cladding of a type deemed to be non-compliant by the government, the courts or the public inquiry into the Grenfell fire. Only five of the 26 owners - responsible for 25 of the 103 buildings - said they had sought some compensation from the companies that installed their flammable claddin
Grenfell Tower Cladding Fire Safety Contractors Liability
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