Kingspan hired lobbyists and ‘gamed’ tests for commercial gain after Grenfell, inquiry told

Kingspan commissioned and deliberately “gamed” tests on competitors’ insulation in order to “plant seeds of doubt” in the corridors of power about the safety of non-combustible materials after the Grenfell fire, the inquiry heard yesterday.

It was told the Irish construction giant also hired a leading firm of political lobbyists straight after the tragedy in a bid to influence key decision-makers including ministers and Judith Hackitt in an attempt to discredit rival products and avoid a ban on combustible materials.

Kingspan’s technical and public affairs director Adrian Pargeter denied they rigged the tests but admitted they had deliberately set them up to perform poorly as part of a “political engagement plan” which was enacted with the knowledge of Kingspan’s billionaire chief executive, Gene Murtagh.

意外的是，这些爆料发生在格伦费尔调查(Grenfell Inquiry)今年的最后一天。

Inquiry chairman Martin Moore-Bick abruptly interrupted barrister Richard Millett QC mid-sentence yesterday afternoon to announce that a member of staff had tested positive for covid-19, that several colleagues would now have to isolate and that there was no way to keep the inquiry running without them.

Earlier Millett accused Kingspan of “attacking the opposition for market share reasons” and asked Pargeter: “Did you see the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire as something of a commercial opportunity?” to which he replied: “Absolutely not.”

The inquiry heard that within six weeks of June 2017’s fire which killed 72 people, Kingspan – whose combustible Kooltherm K15 insulation was used on parts of the tower despite not being specified – had hired Portland Communications.

该公司在8月前为Kingspan起草了一份文件，称:“是时候把我们的信息传达给那些重要的人了。首先，应该由金斯潘而不是波特兰市出面。它看起来更好。我们将代表您起草信件和电子邮件，我们将确保每一封邮件都为收件人量身定制，并为您获得的每一次会议做好充分准备。波特兰将是引擎室。但我们必须现实一点:有些人不想见你，他们也不想被游说。但让这些决策者看到金斯潘的宣言仍然有不可估量的价值。”

The list of targets Portland suggested included the then home secretary Amber Rudd, housing secretary Sajid Javid and Dame Judith Hackitt, who had just been appointed to conduct her review of Building Regulations and fire safety.

The list also included Clive Betts, chair of the communities select committee, fellow committee member Helen Hayes, a former Allies & Morrison staffer turned MP, and former housing minister Mark Prisk, then a member of the housing and planning select committee.

They were repeatedly asked for meetings by phone, email and letter with the help of Grayling, another lobbying firm that replaced Portland.

帕格特同意米勒特的评估，认为这是“一场在广泛战线上精心策划的运动，有一些非常强大和重要的利益相关者”。

Kingspan想要说服他们，“可燃材料在安装不当的情况下并不比不可燃材料更危险”，它们不应该被禁止。它还希望对其竞争对手进行全面测试，这些竞争对手依靠更便宜的“直线路线”来遵守《建筑条例》。

Millett asked: “Kingspan… was doing its best to ensure that the science was secretly perverted for financial gain. That is the position, isn’t it?” Pargeter replied: “That’s not the position at all.”

The inquiry was shown an internal email – copied to senior management including Murtagh – which revealed Kingspan had “discussed how we can generate evidence for use in both the political arena and with the Hackitt Review team”.

调查获悉，Kingspan在2018年委托对其竞争对手Rockwool和Vitracore产品进行了三次测试，以诋毁“线性路线”——即产品包含符合要求的元素，因此不需要进行全面的防火测试来证明符合《建筑法规》。

All three failed but Millett alleged Kingspan had deliberately set the tests up to fail. Pargeter rejected this but admitted they had created “a worst-case scenario” for each product.

An internal document described how one test was to be set up: “The panel system as drawn is expected to perform badly in spite of being A2 as it relies on bonded stiffeners and extrusions for its structural stability. The panel is not fixed on its vertical edges and the bonded connection are expected to deteriorate and fail quickly in the BS8414 test. The way the internal corner is detailed will allow the flames to bypass the vertical cavity barriers and attack the cavity of the wing wall.”

The results were sent to Clive Betts as part of his committee’s inquiry into the Hackitt review, a submission which Millett described as “a deliberate attempt to deceive”.

Kingspan’s covering letter said: “Our position is not about commercial benefit but about ensuring that Building Regulations are always rooted in science and engineering.”

米莱特说:“我要告诉你的是，根据我们所看到的情况，Kingspan大规模地试图误导克莱夫·贝茨和特别委员会，让他们对合规的线性路线产生怀疑，因为基于故意操纵的测试而对可燃物实施的禁令构成了威胁;没错，不是吗?”帕格特回答说:“不，不是。”

A little later Millett said: “There you are in mid-2018, in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, presenting evidence to the select committee which was gamed.” Pargeter responded: “That’s not correct.” He insisted the tests represented potential real-life linear systems.

The inquiry heard that as a result of Kingspan’s evidence to the select committee, the communities department wrote to its chief executive, Murtagh, asking him to hand over Exova’s full report into the Vitracore G2 test along with remaining samples. It said ministers were working “as quickly as possible to establish whether there is a public safety risk in relation to this cladding, and to determine any action that should be taken to ensure public safety”.

Pargeter said he did not know whether Murtagh ever replied but the product was subsequently withdrawn from the market.

Millett alleged: “Kingspan’s position, even in 2018 in the face of a government investigation into fire safety after Grenfell, was doing its best to ensure that the science was secretly perverted for financial gain. That is the position, isn’t it? … And that had been your own approach and Kingspan’s general approach for years … And it’s still going on.”

帕格特拒绝了这些说法。He also rejected an accusation that he had used his Grenfell witness statement to “push the Kingspan line” through the inquiry by using it to argue against a ban rather than addressing what had happened at Grenfell Tower.

The inquiry will restart on 11 January next year when former Kingspan employee Richard Burnley will resume his evidence.