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An executive from the foam insulation manufacturer that burned in the Grenfell Tower was so surprised that the company had established a litmus test to minimize the potential combustibility of the material that she wrote “WTF?” in the margin of the test report, a query has been heard.
Deborah Berger, Celotex Product Manager, told Grenfell’s Public Inquiry that almost three years before the 2017 disaster, her colleagues alerted her that a safety test with fire-retardant panels had been prepared to improve insulation performance against fire. fire, but modifications to the marketing literature used by architects and specifiers were left behind.
She was so alarmed that she noticed “WTF?” next to a photograph of the test bench where he saw that fire resistant magnesium oxide panels had been installed. She told the investigation that the note was “short for shock.”
She said: “I didn’t think Celotex would do that. I thought Celotex was a good company that prided itself on doing the right thing, on being honest. I was really surprised by this. It seemed to me that Celotex had taken some materials and installed them to pass the test. “
The foam was later sold for use in Grenfell, where it helped stoke the fire and released toxic gases, including hydrogen cyanide. Fiona Wilcox, the lead coroner investigating the deaths, has concluded that the tower was filled with smoke that contained “multiple toxic substances” and that “almost all of those who died in the fire died as a result of inhalation of smoke.”
Seventy-two people died as a result of the hell on June 14, 2017 in the 24-story council tower.
Berger was the last witness to testify for Celotex, a company owned by the French building materials giant Saint-Gobain. She said what had been done with the test was “kind of a secret, something we didn’t talk about,” adding: “I wish we had.”
The investigation has already heard claims that Celotex behaved in a “completely unethical” manner in the way it tested and marketed its product. Jonathan Roper, a former deputy product manager, agreed in a cross-examination last week that there had been “fraud in the marketplace.”
Berger, under questioning by Richard Millett QC, attorney for the investigation, said his concerns were never addressed. “Things were shared with me about product testing and then when I tried to be honest and open about it and talk to people about it, it didn’t go very far.”
He said he had reported the “adjustments” in the litmus test to Paul Evans, his manager. She said Celotex had also made efforts to keep the photos of the test rig out of the test report produced by the Building Research Establishment.
Berger later tried to have a certificate changed about the product often trusted by building control officers in a way that he knew was “misleading,” according to the investigation.
This was because the wording that he suggested to the Local Authority Building Control, which certifies construction materials, misrepresented the tests performed and made it appear that the material could be used in a variety of cladding systems on towers over 18 meters high, when in fact, it could only be used as tested.
“I was uncomfortable with the wording,” he told Millett. “I agree that it was false… I don’t think at the time I knew how to challenge it. I agreed with things. “
The investigation continues.
