On 14 Jun 2017 at 11:54pm MAY MUST GO NOW wrote:
Theresa May’s New Advisor Gavin Barwell Failed To Review Tower Block Fire Regulations - Despite Four Years Of Warnings.Theresa May’s new chief of staff failed to carry out a review of fire regulations in tower blocks – despite being warned of the potential for a devastating blaze.
Former Housing Minster Gavin Barwell – who was given a top Downing Street job within days of losing his seat last week – refused to give a date for when the review of regulations would take place just eight months ago.
The review was called for after an inquest into a tower block fire in Camberwell, south-east London, which killed six people and injured 20 in 2009, ruled the regulations covering such buildings were not up to scratch.
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Another coroner ruled in 2013 that all high-rise buildings should be retro-fitted with sprinklers - but Barwell’s predecessor as Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said it was not the “responsibility” of the Government to pass such a law.
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On 15 Jun 2017 at 12:02am Blame.... wrote:
Didn't take long for some prat to blame the tories for the awful fire.
The death toll would have been lower if The Labour Party hadn't had an open door policy. Fact!
On 15 Jun 2017 at 8:19am Mark wrote:
A pr#t, you say? Boris closed fire stations. Gavin Barwell sat on a report warning about making tower blocks safe and Philip Davies blocked a bill aimed at making rentals safer. The stated goal was to avoid further "red tape".
On 15 Jun 2017 at 8:26am Alan the cat wrote:
Didn't know the tower was in Lewes.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 12:11pm A Person wrote:
What a prat
is Alan the cat...
You do know that the same laws of science apply within BN7 as they do outside this sceptred little corner of England?
On 15 Jun 2017 at 12:52pm Billy wrote:
So many posters on here only see things in black and white. Unfortunately, in the real world, there are many shades of grey. Why not wait until a full and independent investigation has taken place before pointing fingers. In my career I have been consulted on a number of changes to Regulation. Believe me, it is not down to the whim of one person, Lawyers are involved, numerous stakeholders are involved and all comments made by stakeholders are responded to. The level of detail and scrutiny that I have previously witnessed is balls-aching but necessary.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 2:07pm Alan the cat wrote:
A (stupid) person. Just trying to highlight how shamefully sad people are to continue their pointless political jibes using this tragedy as a back drop.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 2:08pm Mark wrote:
Why be so grey, Billy? I have no interest in being grey. A large publicly-owned building was sold to a crooked, exploitative company who were under pressure to improve fire safety. They decided to ignore this pressure and instead fit flammable plastic cladding to the facades. Government were complicit.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 3:09pm Billy wrote:
Mark, you know all that for a fact, do you? Do tell, what Standard/s were not complied with? Who signed off the design? Who signed off the construction? Give me some answers and I might agree with you.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 3:19pm Billy wrote:
Mark, here is just one small extract from the 170 page Standard.
External wall construction
12.5 The external envelope of a building should not provide a medium for re spread if it is likely to be a risk to health or safety. The use of combustible materials in the cladding system and extensive cavities may present such a risk in tall buildings.
Externall walls should either meet the guidance given in paragraphs 12.6 to 12.9 or meet the performance criteria given in the BRE Report Fire performance of external thermal insulation for walls of multi storey buildings (BR 135) for cladding systems using full scale test data from BS 8414-1:2002 or BS 8414-2:2005.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 5:27pm Mark wrote:
Oh dear people of Lewes.... Billy wants to turn this into a discussion about specifications for external cladding. Luckily for anyone who's following this, I know absolutely nothing about external cladding. I just know what I read in the papers. I have also read the 2016 blog written by one of the poor souls who lived in that building saying that the building was a death trap. Google it Billy. The company that owned the building threatened the blogger with legal action for writing the blog.
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On 15 Jun 2017 at 5:38pm Billy wrote:
Ha, you keep moving the goalposts.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 7:18pm Mark wrote:
Well yes Billy... But there larger issues a'foot than your, dare I say, rather narrow focus on the nitty gritty of Building Regulations. Be less grey. There is more to life than what is dreamt in your philosophy.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 8:13pm Billy wrote:
Mark, I am still waiting for you to substantiate your comments thus:
"A large publicly-owned building was sold to a crooked, exploitative company who were under pressure to improve fire safety. They decided to ignore this pressure and instead fit flammable plastic cladding to the facades. Government were complicit".
On 15 Jun 2017 at 8:41pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
More than 70 of the Tory MPs who blocked the bill proposing more stringent safety standards for rented properties were landlords themselves.
Bit of a conflict of interest there, imo.
I'm happy to say that I know naff all about the regulations for curtain walling materials, but imo it is pretty bloody obvious that it's not a good idea for it to be highly combustible, unless the combustibility is mitigated by some sort of firebreak system between panels. If that's not in the regs, it damn well should be.
"Red tape" should never be cut to the point where people's safety is compromised.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 10:07pm Plebian wrote:
There is a whole can of worms to come out of this tragedy. Not just greed and incompetence but also fraud and identity theft. Hundreds of undocumented sub letters whose landlords fraudulently claim benefits while living abroad and cramming as many payers as possible into cramped conditions.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 10:45pm Mark wrote:
Billy, I don't have the time or the inclination to spoonfeed information to you. All that I've suggested is in the press, Twitter, Google.
On 15 Jun 2017 at 10:53pm We'vehadourfun wrote:
Mark. It's a forum. Don't start fights you cant finish.
On 16 Jun 2017 at 4:05pm End of the line wrote:
Gavin Barwell, Theresa May's new chief of staff, refuses to answer questions over role in fire safety review.heresa May's new chief of staff and former housing minister Gavin Barwell has been criticised for blanking and walking past reporters asking questions about Grenfell Tower, a day after the Prime Minister faced anger for refusing to meet survivors.
Reporters asked him questions about his role in a delayed fire safety review that he was accused of "sitting on", and asked when we can expect it to be released.
He walked straight past, not acknowledging that he had been asked the questions at all.
Many have pointed out that it looks like the Conservative Party is avoiding questions relating to the fire, after Theresa May visited the site but did not meet survivors, who could have asked her questions about the blaze.
Mr Barwell was accused of sitting on a review into building regulations at tower blocks after a deadly fire in South London in 2009.
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On 16 Jun 2017 at 4:18pm Check it out here wrote:
Bl00dy tedious sums up this forum...