The second phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has begun, after phase one examined what happened on the night on 14 June 2017, when 72 people died in a devastating blaze.
But what is phase two examining and who is involved?
Giving his opening statement yesterday (27 January), counsel to the inquiry Richard Millett QC explained that if phase one looked at the immediate causes and effects of the fire, phase two is an examination of the reasons why it happened.
The latest phase has been split into eight modules across the year:
Module 1:
Will examine the role of professionals involved in the refurbishment of the tower from 2012 to its sign-off in 2016.
Witnesses will include:
- Studio E (architect)
- Rydon (design and build contractor)
- Harley (cladding subcontractor)
- Exova (fire safety engineer)
- CEP (fabricator of the aluminium composite panels)
- Artelia (employer’s agent, quantity surveyor and CDM co-ordinator)
- Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s building control department
- Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation
Module 1 is due to run until the end of April this year.
Module 2:
Will examine the testing, certification, and marketing of key products used in the external wall, specially the ACM panels used in the rainscreen system.
Witnesses will include:
- Arconic (which made and sold the ACM panels used in the rainscreen system)
- Celotex (which made and sold the polyisocyanurate [PIR] and phenolic insulation behind the ACM panels – principally its RS5000 product)
- Kingspan (which made and sold the K15 Kooltherm product)
- Siderise (which made and sold the cavity barriers)
- Aluglaze (which made the window infill panels)
Module 2 is due to start on 4 May and evidence will be heard until mid-June.
Module 3:
Will investigate the complaints made by residents of the tower before 14 June 2017, particularly relating to fire safety and concerns about fire doors and the quality of workmanship during the refurbishment. It will also look at the responses from the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) to those complaints.
It will also consider compliance by the TMO, RBKC and the London Fire Brigade with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the active and passive fire safety systems inside the tower including lifts, fire doors, smoke extraction systems and the gas supply system.
Module 3 will run from the end of June this year until early October when there will be closing statements on all three modules.
Module 4:
Will examine the performance of local and central government in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. It is expected to run from mid-October until mid-November this year.
Module 5:
Will consider the adequacy of the firefighting response on the night of the fire. It is timetabled to run from November this year until mid-February next year with a two-week break for Christmas.
Module 6:
Will involve a study of central and local government’s role in the disaster. Following on from the evidence in module 2, it will also examine the existing regime for testing, certification and classification of materials for use in external cladding systems. Module 6 is due to run from the third week of February next year until early May next year including a two-week break for Easter.
Module 7:
Will be devoted to the remaining expert evidence and will run for a week until mid-May next year.
Module 8:
Dedicated to any remaining evidence and all submissions relating to the circumstances in which people met their death not covered in earlier modules. The bereaved, survivors and residents have been invited to provide written submissions as to further matters to be covered in the module. The timetable depends on these submissions.
