‘Too many unknowns’ to pay up for cladding remediation, products group tells Gove

The Construction Products Association (CPA) has hit back at Michael Gove who yesterday accused materials manufacturers of using the scale of the cladding crisis as an “excuse to do nothing”.

该行业协会表示，它曾“真诚希望”回应英国住房大臣提出的为一个40亿英镑的覆盖基金提供资金的请求，但一直无法做到这一点，因为所需资金水平仍有太多“未知数”。

In a statement published yesterday afternoon, the CPA said there was “uncertainty and concern” over a lack of data on how many homes are affected by building safety issues and that a “robust and trustworthy” assessment of each dwelling was needed to an agreed standard.

It added: “Despite our considerable effort and numerous lengthy detailed discussions to get actions moving, it has not been possible to gain widespread support to enable the industry to sign up for a voluntary funding scheme.”

Earlier, Gove said: “Leaseholders do not have the luxury of waiting years for every building to be assessed before funding is committed.”

The dispute follows a dramatic breakdown in talks between the government and the construction products sector over how much manufacturers should pay for cladding remediation costs.

The housing secretary said he considered negotiations with the sector to have “concluded” and would now do “whatever it takes” to hold products firms to account, including pursuing them through the courts.

Gove said the sector未能通过不同意融资解决方案来“展示领导力”，并警告称，“那些不采取行动的公司将面临严重的商业和声誉后果”。

But the CPA said this afternoon that housebuilders’ “direct connectivity with their buildings is far more manageable than that for product manufacturers [who] will be at the end of a long supply chain”.

In a letter sent to Gove last month, the CPA said: “At this point in time, the construction supply chain has made it clear to the CPA that, given the aforementioned uncertainties and lack of clear information, a consensus is lacking for any model of remediation funding beyond a ‘polluter pays’ model that is limited to the cladding and insulation sector.

”Once key information and clarification can be provided as set out above, we can assist the Government further in this endeavour.”

The government said 35 housebuilders have now signed up to its cladding pledge to fix building safety issues on residential blocks.

However, the executive chair of the Home Builders Federation Stewart Baseley said other parts of the building industry needed to put their hands in their pockets as well.

Stewart Baseley added: “I think the government should bear some of it [the costs] because I think government has been involved in this. But I think other actors who are equally involved in this - construction product manufacturers, contractors, freeholders, overseas developers [also should]. The candid truth is the government sees us as a relatively soft target because we’re larger UK taxpaying companies and we would like to see Mr Gove use the same energy to go after some of the other actors.”

The CPA said several companies have come forward to assist in the remediation process and some had promised to pay for the removal of faulty materials they have produced.

Kingspan是一种可燃绝缘材料K15的生产商，在格伦费尔大厦(Grenfell Tower)发生火灾之前，K15成为高层住宅建筑的市场领导者。该公司去年承诺，在“检测无法支持安全保留”的情况下，将承担部分修复费用。

该公司的一名发言人今天表示，Kingspan“已经在参与其有责任的建筑，并在2021年2月做出了明确承诺，将支付修复费用。

“It has also been advocating for an industry-wide levy to fund remediation in which it would play its role.”

K15占格伦费尔大厦保温材料的5%，这是其灾难性翻新的一部分，该建筑在2017年失火后导致72人死亡。

Most of the insulation used in Grenfell Tower’s cladding system was manufactured by Celotex, whose parent is French giant Saint-Gobain. Celotex has been contacted for comment.