Summary_reader response Draft #2
In the article ‘Eight
failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno’, Knapton
& Dixon (2017) claimed that the Grenfell Tower had numerous lapses in both
‘building regulation and safety rules’ which further augmented during the
incident. Buildings in London followed the Building Acts until 1986 where
external walls had at least one hour of fire resistance. ‘Class O’ regulation
was introduced which removed the initial requirements regardless of being
combustible. A specialist in fire protection remarked the gap between the
claddings exacerbated the fire to upper levels. Although the materials used for
the cladding met the UK standards, it contributed the fire to spread and made
fire-fighting impractical. There was no explicit instruction on the fire risk
assessment. There were no updated building regulations and also not enforce
more than one escape route. According to sources, not all doors were
fire-rated. Sprinklers are required to install up to 30 metres and made the
taller buildings to omit on the upper levels. A specialist claimed that the
firebreaks which were a requirement under Building Regulations 1991 were not
doing its purpose during the fire.
According to the article, there were warnings made from the fire safety
experts on the outdated building regulations. However, the numerous lapses
found during the investigations showed the management of Grenfell Tower were
pressured to commit the incompliances in building regulations. The building
regulators should have improved their building regulations.
First of all, the building regulator duty is to identify and review
older tower buildings like Grenfell Tower if its practical to implement the new
regulations and if it is safe for future refurbishments. Grenfell Tower was
built in accordance with the requirements met in the past. According to Knapton
and Dixon (2017), one staircase and sprinklers installed up to a maximum of 30
meters high are required. In addition, Kentish (2017) claimed residents of
Grenfell Tower inquired for sprinklers and more fire escapes but it was costly
for the management of Grenfell Tower. The building regulators have to consider
suitable building regulations for the older buildings and if Grenfell Tower is
suitable to carry out additional refurbishment works.
Secondly, as an authority, the building regulator should approve of the
materials supplied for buildings. Knapton and Dixon (2017) mentioned the cheaper
and incombustible claddings for refurbishment work were fixed on Grenfell Tower
in 2016. However, the claddings on Grenfell Tower was tested on a small-scale
lab and did not showed its compatibility for tower buildings. According to
Kirkpatrik, Hakim and Glanz (2017), the claddings on the surface of
Grenfell Tower would appear appealing to the surroundings. Therefore, the
management of Grenfell Tower prioritise on beautifying its building instead of
the safety features required. The building regulator should ensure the
claddings for buildings has been through sufficient lab tests.
Lastly, the building regulator should consider the safety of the
buildings before limiting the amount for any refurbishment works. According to
Kentish (2017), the management of Grenfell Tower had to cut costs in materials
because of the amount for refurbishment works provided for housing loans were
capped at an amount of 11.4 million pounds. Initially, the planning stage of
refurbishment works includes fire protection features. From this report, the
root cause of the blaze starts from the lack of funding and support to the
management of Grenfell Tower. The management of Grenfell Tower carry out the
incompliances such as leaving out fire protection features in their
refurbishment works.
Ultimately, Grenfell Tower blaze could spare more lives if building
regulations were reviewed periodically and on a case to case basis. The
building regulators should have improved their existing building regulations
and take actions in banning the combustible claddings and educating the managements
of tower buildings on the importance of building regulations.
References:
Comments
Post a Comment