Scotland’s Flammable Cladding Risks

_{Phil Diamond, MD of Diamond & Company}

NEW research has revealed more than 5,000 high-rise buildings in Scotland are estimated to be covered in ‘flammable cladding’.

Figures produced by Diamond & Company reveal that around 5,500 private and public buildings across the country taller than 11m (36ft) have flammable cladding.

The firm estimates around 25,000 people living in flats in high-rise buildings are affected, with the predicted bill for removing and replacing the combustible cladding expected to eventually reach £7.5 billion in Scotland.

The research has been published following publication of the final report of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry into the 2017 fire that killed 72 people.

The nine-storey Aurora Apartments in Aberdeen is one of several ‘high priority’ buildings identified in the Scottish Government’s pilot programme on cladding remediation as part of the Single Building Assessment.

The Aurora work was managed by Diamond & Company (Scotland) Ltd Chartered Building Surveyors and Chartered Fire Engineers. Using information gathered over several years from a database of high-rise buildings in Scotland, the company has produced figures that reveal the ‘true extent of the problem of dangerous cladding’.

Phil Diamond, MD of Diamond & Company, said,

“The catastrophic loss of so many lives in the Grenfell Tower fire should have been the wake-up call for an immediate overhaul of the housing industry and planning system. Yet, seven years on, little has changed. In Scotland, only one building has had its cladding stripped and replaced through a Scottish Government pilot project.

“The stark reality is that it’s estimated a further 5,500 private and public high-rise buildings contain flammable cladding affecting around 25,000 people. The cladding used on Grenfell Tower is known as Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) but worryingly there are around eight other different types of combustible cladding that have been used in buildings up and down the country over the past 20-25 years.”

Mr Diamond claimed ‘decades of inaction’ has resulted in us reaching this ‘critical point’ and estimated the cost of remedying the situation could be as much as £7.5 billion.

A law to ban combustible cladding on high-risk buildings, and the highest risk metal composite cladding material from all buildings, was passed by the Scottish Parliament in April 2022. This was implemented by amendments to the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, introduced on 1 June 2022, which bans the use of combustible materials on domestic high-rise buildings above 36ft (11m), care homes and hospitals.

The Single Building Assessment (SBA) identifies life-critical fire safety risks and any mitigation or remediation required to make a building safer. The Aurora Apartments was identified to test the SBA as part of the government pilot programme.

Phil Diamond added,

“There is now an urgent need for government in Scotland and at UK-level, along with the building industry to work in partnership to make our high-rise buildings safe. Simplifying a cumbersome procurement system would speed up the risk assessments, to identify the dangerous cladding, and the work needed to remove and replace these flammable materials.

“One bit of positive news is that the methodologies for assessing these high-rise buildings is finally in place. We now owe it to those who died at Grenfell to have the courage to take the rapid action needed to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.”

Source: Project Scotland