Kingspan Group: Insulation
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what further steps his Department has taken, in addition to writing an open letter to building control companies, in response to Kingspan Insulation Ltd withdrawing the three test reports on the safety of its K15 insulation.
Government answer
On 10 March 2021 we issued a letter to fire safety professionals and building control bodies reminding them that Kingspan has retracted three test reports. The letter is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-building-control-bodies-on-the-retraction-of-three-tests-carried-out-on-kingspan-k15-insulation
The letter recommends that fire safety professionals and buildings control bodies review their records to check that any assessments they have carried out using these tests are identified and revisited in light of the information highlighted during the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. The content of this letter is not new and is simply a reminder of the steps they should take in light of this information.
On 5 July 2021, the Government introduced the Building Safety Bill which set out the biggest reforms to building safety regulation for a generation, including provisions to strengthen and extend the scope of the powers available to the Government to regulate construction products.
The Bill will require manufacturers to ensure that their products are safe before putting them on the United Kingdom market. It also paves the way for a national regulator for construction products being set up within the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) to oversee the new regime. The regulator will have robust inspection, market surveillance and enforcement capability so unsafe products can be removed from the market.