Advertisement

Grenfell fire engineer 'ignored' email with cladding and insulation plans, inquiry hears

Terry Ashton, who worked for Exova, had been tasked with examining early proposals for the refit of the west London block which finished a year before the inferno, including the preparation of a fire strategy - AFP
Terry Ashton, who worked for Exova, had been tasked with examining early proposals for the refit of the west London block which finished a year before the inferno, including the preparation of a fire strategy - AFP

The chief fire consultant for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment "ignored" key documents outlining the planned cladding and insulation materials because he was only copied into an email containing them, an inquiry has heard.

Terry Ashton, who worked for Exova, had been tasked with examining early proposals for the refit of the west London block which finished a year before the inferno, including the preparation of a fire strategy.

He told the inquiry into the blaze that the architects had not asked him to examine or comment upon plans for the overcladding of the tower before a new contractor took over the whole project.

Experts have previously concluded that the cladding system installed on the building - including a combination of combustible rainscreen panels and insulation - helped fuel the fire which killed 72 in June 2017.

On Wednesday, Mr Ashton was questioned over an email he received in 2012 from the architects of the project, Studio E, which contained pages of detail about cladding specifications, possible cladding material and the type of insulation under consideration.

Kate Grange QC, counsel to the inquiry, told Mr Ashton he was "copied into that email" containing a link to the plans.

He replied: "But we weren't the primary recipient of that, we were copied in and that happens a lot on projects - it is a scattergun approach, copy everyone in."

Ms Grange said: "Wasn't that a really important document, prepared by the architects, that would inform your work on the outline fire safety strategy? It's setting out their proposals, where they've got to, by that time, for the concept design stage."

The engineer said he would only look at such reports if he was "specifically asked to do so", adding: "To send me a link without any instructions, I would have just ignored it, which is what I did."

Hours after the documents were sent, Exova emailed Studio E with a copy of Mr Ashton’s outline fire strategy - which included a section saying “the proposed changes will have no adverse effect on the building in relation to external fire spread”.

The fire engineer denied this statement was “misleading” and insisted it was not intended to be seen as approval of the cladding plans, which his report said would be analysed in a “further issue”. There were no subsequent issues of the report.

Bruce Sounes, one of the architects working on the project, previously told the inquiry “there was nothing to suggest there would have been a risk” from the overcladding works in Mr Ashton’s report.

Ms Grange suggested his phrasing would have risked creating a “false sense of security within the team about what they were doing on the external wall”.

Mr Ashton replied: “They might have thought that, but they might have thought ‘maybe we should check with Exova that that is the case’.”

The inquiry continues.