Summary, Thesis and Reader's Response: Eight Failures Of Grenfell Tower

In the news release, “Eight failures that left people of Grenfell Tower at mercy of the inferno”, Knapton and Dixon (2017) reported the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident. Until 1986, all buildings in London adhered to the London building act which demanded that external walls have a minimum of at least 1 hour of fire resistance. However, during the Margaret Thatcher’s government, the law was changed which removed the critical time stipulations. Also, a coroner’s report in 2013 following a 2009 fire in South London was responded by Community Secretary Eric Pickles who reassured that a government review on building regulations would be published in 2016/17. Till today, there is still no updated regulation. The physical aspect of the Grenfell tower was also a vital cause to the fire incident. Firstly, the claddings were thought to be made out of a flammable plastic core, and the position of the claddings also acted as wind tunnels to spread the fire upwards. Secondly, there was no central sprinkler system in the building, and some of the front doors were not fireproof doors. Also, the Grenfell Tower only had one staircase which made escaping and rescue difficult. Also, no regular inspection was being conducted for the building.  These failures could have been prevented with regular reviews and better-fireproofing standards.

All in all, the Knapton and Dixon(2017) news release provides information regarding the eight failures of the Grenfell Tower’s fire incident, however it fails to mention the severity or importance of the failures or the critical factor that could have possibly been the reason to the other failures. 

Supporting Statement 1: "No regular Inspection" was the most vital failure which leads to the other failures. Should regular inspection be conducted, the chances of other failures occurring are minimal. 
  
Supporting Statement 2: There should be a fire pumping system in the building. This is another vital failure. It is essential to have a fire pumping system in case of a fire event occurring. If this was installed in the Grenfell Tower, more lives could have been saved. 

Supporting Statement 3: Mentioning the severity or importance of each failure would allow engineers or designers in the future to look into the problem, learn from it and make necessary improvements.