Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to commission a large scale fire safety test on systems incorporating timber cladding.
Acting on advice from the Expert Panel, the government has commissioned research from the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to support further understanding of the fire performance of Non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) external wall systems. The Department has commissioned the BRE to undertake bespoke medium scale tests on timber cladding panels as part of the ongoing Non-ACM research.
This programme began in April 2019 and the preliminary testing concluded in the Summer. This is now in an analysis phase and the research findings will be published in Autumn. Subject to the research findings, a decision will be made as to the testing of further materials used on external wall systems, including timber cladding.
We currently have no plan to commission a large-scale fire safety test on system incorporating timber cladding or further High Pressure Laminates tests