The details in Dr Barbara Lane’s expert report of what went wrong at Grenfell Tower are shocking and a sad indictment on the state of some elements of the construction industry.

The report is a catalogue of failures: a fire in a domestic appliance – not an unusual occurrence – spreads to the external cladding through flammable elements around the windows and up and along the building because of the flammable nature of the external cladding panels and a failure to fit cavity barriers correctly.

Front doors to individual flats failed to perform as claimed, allowing smoke and fire to pour out into the lobbies. The smoke ventilation system didn’t comply with the regulations and failed to operate as intended, allowing the stairwells to fill with hot smoke. Water couldn’t be got to the top of the building using the risers because these were inadequate. And to cap it all, the fire brigade continued to tell residents to stay put even after the fire had spread up the exterior to the top of the building.

There is a strong case that those working on multiple-occupancy tall buildings and other buildings should have the competence to make the right decisions to ensure these are safe

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