Last week the government published its consultation into a ban on combustible cladding materials. The proposals are uncompromising: it suggests a ban on all combustible materials in the walls of buildings over 18m high. The government also wants to see an end to full-scale testing of cladding systems as an alternative means of compliance. This means the end of desktop studies, as these were meant to be based on the results from these tests. 

These proposals are hardly a surprise, given the way fire spread rapidly up the exterior of the Grenfell Tower. Since then, there has been pressure for a ban on combustible cladding from relatives of the victims of the tragedy, as well as the media and some in the industry. But what are the implications of the proposals?

The consultation says that buildings over 18m high should not include combustible materials in the “complete wall assembly, including the inner leaf, insulation and the facade”. This ban includes the areas of the building below the 18m cut-off too. The consultation acknowledges that the external wall in a high-rise building is usually separate from the wall assembly, but does not explicitly say the ban excludes the structure. Some interpret this as excluding the structure from the ban, while others take a different view.

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