FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Typically, buildings built from the early 1990s onwards stand a greater chance of having been clad in Aluminium Composite Panelling (ACP) than those that came before. The timing is linked to an exponential increase in its manufacture after the patent for one of the earliest ACP products developed expired. This paved the way for competition in market share and alternative applications.

Relying on the identification of ACP on a façade alone is insufficient to gauge the level of risk it poses to your building and its occupants. It’s location, extent and level of combustibility are equally important factors which must also be taken into account.

CFS Global is equipped with the expertise and cover to perform this type of analysis.

Whether you know your building to be at risk or are seeking reassurance to the contrary, CFS Global will audit your property and provide you with an unambiguous answer. We will then tailor a Remediation Strategy and Design to your particular needs and / or requirements.

Aluminium Composite Panelling (ACP) was invented in the mid-1960s. Commercial manufacture of one of the earliest products developed began later that same decade, a patent for which was granted in the 1970s. Upon its expiry in the early 1990s, numerous companies around the world began producing variants of their own. This surge in competition gave rise to unprecedented levels of its use in a diverse range of building applications.

ACPs are categorised by their ‘sandwich’ like assembly in which aluminium sheeting is bonded to a core material. The core often comprises a polymer such as polyethylene (PE), polyurethane (PU) or expanded polystyrene (EPS), all of which have notoriously low melt and ignition temperatures.

To counter this attribute, manufacturers would add inert mineral fillers to these polymer cores in order to introduce a degree of fire resistance to their products. It is important to note that ACPs classified as fire retardant (FR) are still technically regarded as combustible.

In an industry response to the dangers associated with polymer based ACP cores, alternative products were developed using aluminium honeycomb cores, so as to preserve their lightweight characteristics. While these were initially understood to be non-combustible, on account of their almost entirely aluminium composition, one such product failed a significant UK test protocol, known as BS-8414, in 2018 having passed it the year before.

This has since raised doubts over the viability and suitability of similar products being used for the purposes of cladding replacement on Combustible Facade Cladding Remediation Projects.

CFS Global offers ACP sample collection and testing, for the purposes of establishing which kind of ACP you might have on your building, as part of our Combustible Façade Cladding Audit and Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment (BFSRA) service packages.

The dangers associated with ACP façade cladding have always been present. Countless failures across the construction industry are what has, in effect, led to risks associated with these types of product not being identified or recognised early enough to prevent them from being installed up and down buildings around the world.

Tragically, it has taken catastrophic fire events, the likes of Grenfell Tower in the UK, Torch Tower in the Emirates and Lacrosse in Australia, for governments and the industry to accept the gravity of the issue and concede that actions to prevent further such disasters from occurring need to be effectuated immediately.

Whether your building is compliant will depend entirely on its location and jurisdiction. We work closely with third party Building Surveyors / Certifiers in your region to provide you with an accurate analysis in the context of our Assessments and Remediation Strategy.

The legislative environment concerning the status of Aluminium Composite Panelling (ACP) and other combustible cladding products is an evolving one and is also entirely dependent on where your building is located. As such, this is something CFS Global evaluate on a case-by-case basis.

Our experience to date suggests that in view of the complexities surrounding liability for the original installation of ACP on building facades over the years, there is a willingness, on the part of Local Authorities signing-off on proposed remedial works, to accommodate Performance Solutions.

Performance Solutions are ones that do not necessarily involve the complete removal of ACP from across the entire façade of a building. Instead they look for targeted ways in which to reduce risk to a building and its occupants.

In the event your building falls short of current standards, it is always recommended to look at ways to bring it back up to code. From a legislative standpoint, this is not always a prerequisite.

In cases where some level of intervention and / or remediation is required, it is important to understand whether there are any regulatory dispensations in place in your jurisdiction. These may permit Performance Solutions as part of staged, longer-term remediation strategies, where the pursuit of Full Remediation outcomes from the outset may be cost prohibitive.

CFS Global provide a number of services inclusive of Façade Remediation Scope Design and Construction Stage Consultancy. Of all the Services we provide these are considered the minimum required to de-risk your building long-term.

Estimating an overall building’s remedial cost is challenging. It has to encompass the Design and Construction Stage fees of all the Consultants and Builders / Contractors involved as well as those of the various Authorities and Referral Agencies.

Even a high-level estimate requires, at the very least, some level of CFS Global Design Work to occur followed by a Quantity Surveyor’s initial Cost Analysis.

For more information on Audit, Assessment and Design Stage services please contact CFS Global with your Expression of Interest (EoI).

We are an experienced and dedicated team of professionals with your best interests at heart. We work to simplify the process of Combustible Facade Cladding Risk Mitigation and Compliance for you by Project Managing every step of the way so you don’t have to.

CFS Global provides you with a personalised, tailored service to meet your particular needs and set of circumstances. Our approach is hands-on and offers fast, practical solutions and flexible delivery.

We pride ourselves in our ability to adequately scope and manage technical issues which, in turn, enables us to provide significant value to our clients. This, along with our multidisciplinary approach, is our competitive advantage.

You will find our team helpful, well-informed and always willing to go the extra mile. We get to know you so that together we can work to achieve the desired outcome.