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BBA based an ‘inaccurate’ certificate of Kingspan insulation on tests to other products
The British Board of Agrément (BBA) published an “inaccurate and misleading” certificate covering the Kooltherm K15 insulation that was found on parts of Grenfell Tower by “extrapolating” information from other products rather than obtaining original test data.
Today Brian Moore, former deputy chief executive at the BBA, told the inquiry that it was the organisation’s belief that the classification for K15 “was extrapolated from a series of fire reports on similar Kingspan phenolic products, including those of similar density and facing type”.
In 2008 the BBA, which is the UK construction sector’s most trusted certifying body, issued a certificate that said K15 could be considered to be Class 0.
While Class 0 was not a standard relevant for the use of insulation on a high-rise building, it was referred to in Kingspan’s marketing of its product amid industry confusion about the applicable standards.
However, Mr Moore told the inquiry that the BBA has found no evidence in its records that it received test data from Kingspan which confirmed that it had achieved a Class 0 rating.
Instead, its K15 file folders contained a number of reports relating to the fire performance of different Kingspan products, dating as far back as 1991.
Mr Moore, who joined the BBA after the 2008 certificate was first published, said: “I understood that it wasn’t common but it was not unusual if there were products of a very similar kind to each other and if the performance was judged to be so similar to one that we had already assessed, it was not unusual for the BBA to extrapolate this opinion from one product to a similar one.”
The inquiry has previously heard that Kingspan carried out a test of a system containing its K15 insulation in December 2007, which showed the product “burnt very ferociously”.
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One of the reasons for the poor performance was believed to be due to perforations made on the foil facers on the insulation, introduced in a product change in 2006, which made it perform poorly compared with a previous version of the product.
Today Richard Millett QC, counsel to the inquiry, pointed out that none of the products contained in the BBA’s K15 file, which were believed to have been used to “extrapolate” K15’s Class 0 rating, had the “same facer as K15”.
Mr Moore replied: “If they were in the folder in the section that related to fire then it was the assumption, the belief that they had been considered. Whether they were satisfactory evidence to make the opinion that would support BS 476 and in the absence of a test I can’t comment. If they’re not sufficiently similar, then that can’t be a good thing.”
Mr Millett asked Mr Moore if he accepted that “in proceeding to state Class 0 in the absence of any test data there was a very basic failure of due diligence on the part of the BBA”.
“If there was no basis upon which to include that statement in the certificate that can’t be correct, that can’t be right,” Mr Moore replied.
In addition to the claim that K15 had achieved Class 0, the BBA’s certificate stated that the insulation boards “will not contribute to the development stages of a fire or present a smoke or toxic hazard”, despite K15 being a combustible product.
“Do you agree with me that if K15 is indeed, as I think you’ve accepted, a combustible material, do you agree with me that the statement the boards will not contribute to the development stages of a fire is inaccurate and misleading?” said Mr Millett.
“If Kingspan K15 will burn or will contribute to the development stages of a fire then that is not correct,” Mr Moore replied.
It comes after the inquiry heard yesterday that the BBA issued a “materially wrong” certificate covering the cladding used on the Grenfell Tower after failing to obtain new test data on Arconic’s Reynobond 55 cladding that demonstrated a poorer fire performance than that listed on its certificate.
The inquiry has previously heard that contractors working on the Grenfell Tower project relied on the BBA’s certificates as confirmation that the products used on the block were suitable for use on high-rise towers.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry continues.
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