By Danielle Aumord

Witnesses from independent testing house, the Building Research Establishment have been questioned over how insulation manufacturers were able to manipulate and misrepresent tests carried out at their facility.

We heard how the testing methodology used, was written into a formal British Standard (BS 8414) in the 2000s. Official guidance was then amended so that passing one of these tests was recognised as a means to use systems with combustible materials on high-rise buildings.

Cladding manufacturers Celotex and Kingspan then both went on to undertake multiple tests at their facilities.

One of BRE’s employees, Phil Clarke was questioned about what could be perceived as “advise” that he gave to Celotex representatives about how thickening the external cladding panels they were producing, could help them to achieve a fire safety pass.

Consequently, Celotex passed its product test at the second attempt in May 2014, a month before work began on the Grenfell Tower regeneration programme. The public inquiry heard that they used secret additional magnesium oxide boards in the test to strengthen the cladding panels – a feature that wasn’t declared in Mr. Clark’s test report nor in Celotex’s later product marketing.

When asked why he didn’t notice the boards that had been added, Mr. Clark responded: “In hindsight, probably, yes, I would – I should have picked up on it, but what you need to appreciate is at any one time I could have seven or eight projects I was working on – on my desk to write reports for.”

In regards to Kingspan, Mr. Clark was asked about a test in March 2014 that paired with the firm’s K15 insulation with high-pressure laminate cladding panels. Flames exceeded the top of the rig used in the test and it was deemed a failure. Kingspan then complained and asked for it to be regraded as a pass, which the BRE declined. But in subsequent reports written by Mr. Clarke, the consultant missed out the fact that the test was a failure, which meant that Kingspan was able to use the failed test to strengthen the case that their combustible product was suitable for buildings over 18-metres in height.

Stephen Howard, BRE business manager, was also asked why in 2015, he issued a classification report for a test Kingspan carried out in 2005, despite the fact that the test was never formally appraised against the ‘pass fail criteria’.

The inquiry heard that when BRE was sent this document – director Sarah Colwell said “we need to discuss this urgently” but there was no indication that any further steps were taken.

Mr. Howard denied that he issued the test classification report to avoid disrupting “potentially huge sources of income” from the insulation manufacturer Kingspan.

BRE staff also denied knowing that the secret fire resisting boards were added to this key test and Tony Baker, former BRE project manager for large scale testing, told the public inquiry that the testing house would sometimes accept technical drawings of proposed  tests after they had been constructed. He admitted that this could leave the process open to inaccurate reports.

David Jones, of Herefordshire Building Control, also produced a certificate in 2009 which incorrectly stated Kingspan’s K15 insulation “can be considered a material of limited combustibility.”

Mr. Jones admitted to taking inaccurate information in these documents at “face value” when making his decision and said he didn’t actually have the necessary knowledge to make this judgement. He said that this initially made him hesitant about taking on the work at the bequest of Local Authority Control (LABC) – the representative group for local authority inspectors that Kingspan paid to obtain it.

Emails from Kingspan’s Phil Heath revealed his excitement at receiving the certificate: “FANBLOODYTASTIC”, he said in one. Another read: “I think LABC convinced themselves [K15] is the best thing since sliced bread. We didn’t even have to get any real ale down him.”

Mr. Jones told the inquiry that pressure as the reason for issuing the certificate. He said: “I suppose from every angle I was being pressurised by LABC and Kingspan to find a way of doing a system approval.”

The inquiry continues.