The Independent Expert Advisory Panel was announced on Tuesday 27
June 2017 by Communities Secretary .
Panel members are:
- Sir Ken Knight (chair) – former London Fire Commissioner and
former Government Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
- Dr Peter Bonfield – Chief Executive of the Building Research
Establishment
- Amanda Clack – President of the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors and a Partner at EY
- Roy Wilsher – Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council
Statement by the Independent Expert Advisory Panel:
The tests that are currently being conducted are a screening
test to identify which Aluminium Composite Material (ACM)
panels are of concern. It tests the filler – the core of the
panel – to check if it is of limited combustibility (category
1) or not (category 2 or 3). This is in line with the
requirement of the Building Regulations guidance. The filler is
one element of the overall cladding system.
If the panel core fails the test we would expect the landlord
to take the recommended interim fire safety measures issued
on 22 June 2017.
The Panel will engage with experts across the country to
consider whether these panels can be used safely as part of a
wider building external wall system, and therefore could remain
on a building under certain approved circumstances. If, in the
meantime, a landlord chooses to take down and replace cladding,
care should be taken to consider the impact that removal may
have on the other wall elements, especially insulation, and
therefore on the overall fire integrity of the building as well
as other Building Regulation requirements.
