The frequency of façade fires in large buildings has grown seven times over the last 30 years. The US NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) summarises current information on façade fires, outlining regulatory developments and illustrating ten major incidents since 2017: Grenfell London, Torch Tower Dubai, Yuansheng China, Taksim Ilk Yardim Hospital Turkey, Zen Tower Dubai, Kaifeng apartments China, Golden Eagle Mall China, Luoyang China, Warsaw Poland, The Cube Bolton UK. Façade systems are very varied, using a range of different materials in combinations, and NFPA underlines the lack of accurate data on the type of façade system involved in fire incidents, making learning from experience problematic. This is accentuated because there are many different national façade testing methods, resulting in non-comparable data.
“Data void”, NFPA Journal, May/June 2020, https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/NFPA-Journal/2020/May-June-2020/Features/Grenfell