Fire safety update - High-rise cladding samples confirmed not to be ACM

Islington Council was informed this morning that none of the remaining samples of cladding from high-rise council housing sent for testing contain ACM (Aluminium Composite Material).

The samples were taken from buildings on the Brunswick and Harvist Estates.

Confirmation that these samples were not ACM cladding came from the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE), which is carrying out tests on hundreds of panels on behalf of the government.

ACM is the type of cladding used at Grenfell Tower and is thought to be linked to the spread of the fire there.

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Islington Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: “This is good news, which will be a big relief to all the residents of these high-rise buildings who have been waiting to hear these results.

“Safety for residents in our estates remains our number one priority.  We will continue to do everything it takes to keep our residents safe and will talk to them about any concerns they may have.

“Nothing is off the table in terms of fire safety measures we may take. We are actively looking into retrofitting sprinklers in our tower blocks and how effective they may be, and will continue with our fire safety upgrades programme.

“We will follow any directions the fire brigade provide on improving fire safety for residents.”

The council is currently removing cladding panels from Braithwaite House, the only high-rise council block in Islington confirmed to have had some ACM panels on the sides of the building.

The council has also put on hold all planned work to install cladding at Ilex House, Gambier House, Halliday House and Arlington House.