Hadleigh insulation maker Celotex engaged in ‘systematic dishonesty’ to market combustible cladding, final Grenfell Tower inquiry report finds

A Hadleigh insulation manufacturer embarked on a dishonest scheme that led to its combustible cladding being fitted to Grenfell Tower, a public inquiry has concluded.

The final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry – the statutory investigation into the 2017 disaster, which claimed the lives of 72 people – was published last week.

The inquiry panel determined that a significant reason why the high-rise tower was clad in unsafe materials was because of “systematic dishonesty”, from those who made and sold the products.

Among them was Celotex, a firm based on Hadleigh’s Lady Lane Industrial Estate, whose combustible RS5000 product was the primary insulation used on the tower block.

The report stated that the cladding maker “engaged in deliberate and sustained strategies to manipulate the testing processes”, so that RS5000 would receive fire safety certification.

The Building Research Establishment (BRE), the main industry body for fire safety, was also found to be complicit in Celotex’s manipulation.

Inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said: “In an attempt to break into the market for insulation suitable for use on high-rise buildings, Celotex embarked on a dishonest scheme to mislead customers and the wider market.

“With the complicity of BRE, Celotex tested a system, incorporating RS5000, that contained fire-resistant magnesium oxide boards, placed in critical positions to ensure that it passed.

“It then obtained from BRE a test report that omitted any reference to the magnesium oxide boards – thereby rendering it materially incomplete and misleading.

“Celotex then marketed RS5000 as ‘acceptable for use in buildings above 18 metres in height’.

“However, the test on which Celotex relied in support of that claim had been manipulated – a fact that Celotex did not disclose in its marketing literature.”

The report also stated that Celotex previously made the “false and misleading” claim that RS5000 had Class 0 fire performance throughout, while marketing the product with the name FR5000.

The company was then found to have presented the insulation to sub-contractor Harley Facades as “suitable and safe” for Grenfell Tower – even though “it knew that was not the case”.

In response to the inquiry report, Celotex stated that it will carefully consider the findings, and would continue to co-operate with ongoing investigations.

The firm also claimed that it had conducted its own “significant and thorough” review into how RS5000 was tested and marketed.

The results of this review, it says, were shared with relevant stakeholders, including the inquiry.

“Independent testing, commissioned following the review, demonstrated that the cladding described in the RS5000 marketing literature met the relevant safety criteria,” said a Celotex spokesman.

“That system was substantially different to that used at Grenfell Tower.

“Decisions about design, construction and the selection of materials for the tower were made by construction industry professionals.”