Mr Gibson said he had a “clear recollection” of the discussion and reading it in the meeting minutes. “I recall that ‘Lakanal’ had been spelled incorrectly in the minutes,” he said.
But asked about this today, Mr Lawrence said: “I don’t agree with it at all… I wouldn’t give technical assurances unless I had that information from designers or specialists.”
Mr Lawrence was also shown an email from Clare Williams, project manager at KCTMO, where she said she had a “Lacknall [sic] moment” and asked Mr Lawrence for “clarification on the fire retardance of the cladding”.
He did not reply, and said today that he assumed she was referring to a small section of glass reinforced cladding on the lowest floor of the building, rather than the whole system.
Mr Lawrence was also asked to discuss a pitch from insulation manufacturer Rockwool in summer 2014 to replace the combustible insulation planned for the tower with a non-combustible mineral wool alternative produced by the firm.
Rockwool said that this switch could secure additional environmental grants under the ECO funding programme.
The emails from Rockwool spelled out that its insulation had a “superior fire rating of Euroclass A1” which made it “particularly suited to high rise”. They proposed switching the ACM for their non-combustible Rockpanel system.
“You get a lot of approaches from manufacturers wanting to use their product on projects… but we didn’t know there was any difference between one or the other in terms of fire safety or anything else,” said Mr Lawrence.
In the end, Celotex RS5000 was used on the tower – an insulation made from the plastic polyisocyanurate which is combustible and releases toxic gases when burnt – despite a regulatory requirement that insulation on high rises be non-combustible or tested.
Mr Lawrence was also asked about the substitution of this insulation with Kingspan phenolic foam for some of the lower parts of the building.
He said he had no awareness that almost 150 sheets of this material arrived on site in May and September 2015, suggesting that the change may have come about due to financial difficulties being experienced by contractor Harley Facades.
“I think I might have an insight from now, since the disaster and since the evidence has come up. I think it’s relating to their credit limit and ceasing to trade one company and starting to trade with another,” he said.
The inquiry continues tomorrow with further evidence from Mr Lawrence.
