The UK Government has announced that it will ban “combustible” cladding on all new buildings >18 metres high and which contain residential accommodation, schools, care premises or student housing. The ban concerns all materials not achieving Euroclass A1 or A2 and follows a public consultation. However, the UK Fire Brigades Union has criticised the announcement, underlining that it fails to address existing buildings and suggesting that only class A1 materials should be authorised. Recently, the BBC published tests results on Vitacore G2 cladding over mineral wool insulation, showing failure to BS-8414 whereas the current UK building regulations would “assume safety” for this design without testing, because all the components are fire safety rated as “limited combustibility”.
UK Government press release, 1 October 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-new-housing-measures
“Grenfell Tower: New cladding ban ‘still allows flammable panels’, firefighters warn”, The Independent, 2 October 2018 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-tower-cladding-firehigh-rise-building-flammable-panels-a8564136.html
“Replacement cladding fails fire safety test”, BBC 6th July 2018 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44748514