Reader Response on Cladding Draft 1

In the article, “Use of Cladding in Buildings Here Have Grown in Recent Times”, Mokhtar (2017) reported the increasing use of cladding in Singapore and its benefits and risks. Cladding is a layer of panels added to the exterior facade of buildings to cut energy use, improve building appearance or provide shade. The use of cladding, however, caught attention worldwide after the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. The fire had spread upwards rapidly due to the ventilation gaps between the cladding and the building’s wall, drawing oxygenated air from the bottom of the facade and fueling the fire. In Singapore, the use of cladding is regulated. For example, cladding material must not allow fire to spread along its surface when ignited. Besides meeting statutory regulations, a building owner was cited to have included measures to prevent fire from spreading between levels and regular certification of fire protection systems. While it is undeniable that the use of cladding has many advantages, it is extremely crucial to review the materials used in its design, which is critical in improving fire safety of buildings.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force has specified in the Singapore Fire Code that “if such cladding is situated less than 1 m from any point on the relevant boundary, it shall have surface complying with the requirements for Class '0'”. Class ‘0’ is a requirement where “the material of which the wall or ceiling is constructed shall be non-combustible throughout”. In contrast, the UK authorities left the responsibility of fire safety in buildings to their respective owners. As a result, some companies chose to use cheaper but more combustible materials as cladding.

In the case of the Grenfell Tower incident, the cladding material used was mostly polyethylene (PE), a plastic material that has low melting point that is between 120°C and 180°C. It would easily fail when a blaze occurs. This is certainly not the best materials to use, considering the combustibility of PE. In another incident as reported by Channel NewsAsia on 4th May 2017, the building at 30 Toh Guan Road had used the same PE material in its cladding, which caught fire and propagated fire spread upwards along the cladding (Channel NewsAsia, 2017). Although PE is cost-efficient and lightweight, it counteracts fire control measures, thus making it an unsuitable material to increase fire safety.

Apart from PE cladding, there are fire-retardant (FR) materials out in the market. One example is the aluminium composite material, or ACM. It consists of aluminium, PE and aluminium tri-hydroxide Al(OH)3, a mineral filler that is incombustible. Only this type of aluminium-PE cladding with incombustible mineral filler has passed the Building Regulations tests (Morby, 2017). According to the video “Comparing the Flammability of Different Cladding” (Sturmer, 2017), the PE cladding within aluminium plates caught fire within 5 seconds of exposure to a blow torch flame. However, the FR cladding, made of ACM and FR material, did not sustain a fire even at 20 seconds, thus emphasizing the need for cladding materials to have FR materials incorporated in them.

Since the Singapore Fire Code has specified that cladding materials are required to have class ‘0’ standard, this ought to be emphasized globally that the materials used in cladding need to be incombustible. Cost-efficiency is important. However, fire safety must not be compromised. The material used must contain FR materials that would increase the fire safety of buildings, be it in Singapore or other countries. Consequently, should a fire occur in a building, its occupants would be better protected from a devastating fire. 


References
36 buildings may have combustible cladding that doesn't meet safety standards; police investigating. (2017). Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/36-buildings-may-have-combustible-cladding-that-doesn-t-meet-9153588

Arconic knowingly supplied flammable panels for use in tower – emails. (2017). Reuters. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-fire-arconic/arconic-knowingly-supplied-flammable-panels-for-use-in-tower-emails-idUKKBN19F05C

Building regulations to be reviewed after safety tests following Grenfell. (2017). The Guardian. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/28/government-announces-independent-review-building-regulations-grenfell-tower-fire

Cladding for Grenfell Tower was cheaper, more flammable option. (2017). The Guardian. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/16/manufacturer-of-cladding-on-grenfell-tower-identified-as-omnis-exteriors

Comparing the flammability of different cladding. (2017). Jake Sturmer. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-28/comparing-the-flammability-of-cladding/8752786

First ACM cladding passes fire tests. (2017). Construction Enquirer. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/08/13/first-acm-cladding-passes-fire-tests/

Grenfell Tower: fire-proof cladding specified by architects used only on ground floor. (2017). The Guardian. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/06/grenfell-fire-proof-cladding-specified-by-architects-only-used-on-ground-floor

How a common building material turned a Dubai hotel fire into an inferno. (2017). The Star. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/01/19/how-a-common-building-material-turned-a-dubai-hotel-fire-into-an-inferno.html

Mitsubishi Plastics. (2008). Material safety data sheet - ALPOLIC®/fr, Aluminum Composite Material with fire-retardant core filled with non-combustible mineral. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from http://www.alpolic.com/alpolic-intl/downloads/msds_alpolicfr.pdf

Singapore Civil Defence Force. (2015). Singapore Fire Safety Engineering Guidelines 2015. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from https://www.scdf.gov.sg/sites/www.scdf.gov.sg/files/Singapore%20Fire%20Safety%20Engineering%20Guidelines%202015_1.pdf

Woman suffers burns after fire breaks out at warehouse opposite IMM. (2017). Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved, September 25, 2017, from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/woman-suffers-burns-after-fire-breaks-out-at-warehouse-opposite-8816664

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