142 Arconic: Week 2

The cladding manufacturer admitted it had been ‘deliberately and dishonestly misleading’. Claude Schmidt, the President of Arconic Architectural Products, answered questions about the testing, classification and performance of the cladding panels used on Grenfell Tower – which the inquiry has established was the main cause of the spread of the 2017 fire.

The cladding panels came in two different shapes - either cassette or rivet - each shape performing differently when exposed to fire. The inquiry heard that when the cassette panels ‘disastrously’ failed a fire test, the test results were not shared with certification bodies or customers. The cassette shaped cladding panels were used on Grenfell Tower. Claude Schmidt accepted that this was misleading, but denied deliberately withholding information and risking life safety. The inquiry also heard that Claude Wehrle, head of the technical sales support team, told his colleagues that the failed fire safety test should be kept ‘very confidential’.

Presenter / Producer: Kate Lamble Producer: Sharon Hemans Researcher: May Cameron