A contractor has been told to remove insulation from balconies and apologize to residents after breaching a local ban on using Kingspan products.
It has emerged that earlier this month, Kent-based Lawtech was told to remove the product it had installed on 16 balconies at the Adair and Hazlewood tower blocks in North Kensington.
The contractor had been working on a £7m repair project to the towers, which involves removing their external rendering systems.
In 2021, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said it would not allow any contractor to use products made by Kingspan on any of its projects, after allegations about the company’s conduct emerged during the tower inquiry Grenfell on the 2017 fire at the building.
Kim Taylor-Smith, Grenfell’s senior councilor for housing and social investment, said last week that after officers identified the Kingspan product on July 7, she instructed Lawtech to “remove it immediately”. .
“This has now been done and will be replaced by the originally specified product, Rockwool,” he said.
“Lawtech’s use of Kingspan is an absolute breach of our instruction and trust. I am deeply disappointed and have asked for a full explanation of how this happened. I hope Lawtech apologizes to our residents.
“We made a public commitment in 2021 that the council would no longer contract with Kingspan, nor would we allow our contractors to subcontract with them or allow their use by any subcontractor on any council project. We stand by that commitment.”
The council’s ban followed allegations made about the conduct of material suppliers Kingspan, Arconic and Celotex, as well as contractor Rydon, during the investigation. He said he would no longer work with or use products made by either company. His position should be reviewed after the final report of the investigation has been published. This is now expected to be in 2024.
Grenfell United, the group representing bereaved families and survivors, said the guardian: “We are disgusted that once again contractors like Lawtech have shown complete disregard and allowed Kingspan product back into the homes of social housing tenants in Kensington and Chelsea. The lack of oversight that allowed this to happen is extremely worrying.”
Lawtech has been approached for comment.
Company statement supplied to the My London The website said: “The installation was in an isolated area and was removed on the same day that inspections identified Kingspan brand insulation board. The use of Kingspan boards was an isolated error and these boards have not been used anywhere else in the works.”
The contractor added that the Kingspan mineral wool boards that had been used were A1 non-combustible and equivalent to approved Rockwool insulation. “[The boards] it posed no risk to any residents. However, Lawtech fully accepts this [the council’s] “Unfortunately, the product use ban was breached in this isolated incident, which was immediately identified and quickly rectified,” he said.
Kingspan has been approached for comment.
During the investigation, material suppliers, including Kingspan, were accused of trying to “game the system” by “putting unsafe products on the market”. He has done it before said: “Kingspan did not supply or recommend the use of its K15 insulation in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower, which represented only 5% of the insulation layer purchased for use and was totally unsuitable for use in a cladding system with an ACM with a polyethylene core.”
