Contributed Collaborative Post
Building cladding has, over the past decade, become an issue that has received significant attention on a national level. Kick-started by the tragic loss of lives in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, there has since been a huge effort to identify and replace unsafe cladding in a range of different contexts, and it’s important to understand how these replacement processes work.
Situations where it might be necessary
First, when is cladding replacement actually necessary? There are basically two main situations.
Where it’s dangerous
Since the Grenfell fire in 2017, a lot of attention has rightly been paid to contexts where cladding has been installed that is incredibly dangerous.
The main risk in these contexts is flammability. Non-compliant cladding can dramatically accelerate the spread of fire in all sorts of properties, and if this is the case, it can require rapid replacement.
Where it’s ineffective
There are also a range of less dangerous situations where the cladding is no longer doing its job.
Cladding is installed primarily to provide a weather barrier, improve insulation, and provide an aesthetic finish to a property. If the cladding is no longer effective in any of these areas, then it may also be worth getting it replaced, even if it isn’t necessarily a fire hazard.
A breakdown of the replacement process
There will be several steps involved in most projects.
Assessment
The process will normally start with an audit of the existing cladding.
One aspect of this will be to determine fire risk. This will involve looking for air gaps and assessing the materials that have been used in the cladding itself.
Other assessments might include testing whether it is still an effective thermal barrier, and whether the cladding is effective at preventing water ingress and protecting against wind.
Stripping existing cladding
Once the assessment has been carried out, if replacement is necessary, the old cladding will need to be stripped. This will often necessitate the installation of a scaffolding frame, after which the cladding can be dismantled and taken off.
Replacement
With the old cladding gone, new, compliant and practically effective cladding can be installed by a provider like ACS Coating. There are a range of options to choose from, based on the size of the building, insulation requirements, and a range of other factors.
How long this all takes will largely depend on the size of the building, access issues, and the type of cladding that needs to be installed.
Government funding
To help expedite the replacement of unsafe cladding in particular, the government has a Cladding Safety Scheme, which makes funds available for these kinds of projects.
It can be a relatively expensive job to have done, and it’s absolutely worth checking to see whether you or your organisation might be eligible for these grants.
If you suspect that there is unsafe cladding in your building, it is imperative that you take the right steps to assess and potentially replace it as soon as reasonably possible. Left alone, it could potentially result in a catastrophic incident, leaving you exposed to a whole range of legal repercussions.
This is a contributed collaborative post
