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LGA urges government to ‘resist industry pressure’ on desktop studies
Ministers must “resist industry pressure” and ban desktop studies, the chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.
Lord Gary Porter was reacting to news that the government’s own analysis has projected that use of desktop studies will increase if its proposals for fire safety testing are implemented.
Desktop studies extrapolate data from fire safety tests to apply them to other materials, allowing untested cladding systems to be used on buildings.
The practice has been criticised by fire safety experts since the Grenfell Tower fire, and the LGA has called for desktop studies to be banned.
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It also wants all materials in cladding systems to be non-combustible as a minimum.
Lord Porter said: “The Grenfell Tower fire has exposed a system for ensuring buildings that are safe which is not fit for purpose.
“The use and misuse of desktop studies is at the heart of the problem, and the LGA has been clear that desktop studies should no longer be a route to compliance for cladding systems on high-rise and complex buildings.
“Unfortunately, upon a close reading of the consultation’s impact assessment there is the admission that the government’s proposals could result in more desktop studies. Meanwhile the document does not offer a ban as a fully fledged option.”
He added: “It is vital that the government resists industry pressure that seeks to allow the continued use of these studies as a minimum.”
And he said using non-combustible materials is the only way to give building owners clarity over the replacement of flammable cladding systems.
