Upper Grenfell Tower. Image: ChiralJon, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A new report, ordered in response to the Grenfell Tower fire last June, speaks of the ‘utter inadequacy’ of fire safety tests used to assess building materials.

The report was commissioned by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and carried out by the Fire Protection Association.

Issues identified in the ABI report include that current fire safety tests fail to replicate realistic conditions.

For example, some use test fires that only contain wood, when plastics typically make up twenty percent of modern fires.

Others see cladding materials being tested as a sealed unit, when cladding usually contains gaps and covers a large surface area in actual use.

The findings of this study come shortly after Inside Housing reported eighty six households who lost their homes in the Grenfell Tower fire are still waiting to be rehoused in suitable permanent accommodation.

Scale of fire safety testing failures laid bare – New post-Grenfell tests show real-life fires could burn at least 100 degrees hotter: https://t.co/7Q3DfQYH55 #GrenfellTower #FireSafety pic.twitter.com/cPOmB9oHBK

— ABI (@BritishInsurers) April 25, 2018