Dan Kitwood/Getty Images(LONDON) — A cladding manufacturing company announced Monday that it is discontinuing sales of a type of paneling that was used in London’s Grenfell Tower apartment complex, where a devastating fire killed at least 79 people this month.
Arconic said in a statement that it will stop global sales of the aluminum composite material Reynobond PE for use in high-rise applications.
“We believe this is the right decision because of the inconsistency of building codes across the world and issues that have arisen in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy regarding code compliance of cladding systems in the context of buildings’ overall designs,” Arconic said.
In its initial statement after the fire, Arconic acknowledged the use of Reynobond PE as a component in the tower’s cladding system and expressed condolences to the victims.
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May said tower block safety tests needed to happen more quickly in England, the BBC reported.
Last week more than 800 public housing apartments in north London were evacuated over fire concerns. The tower blocks were found to be covered in the same cladding that surrounded Grenfell Tower, officials said. The buildings will undergo emergency work over the next three to four weeks.
Police announced on June 24 that the massive fire was caused by a faulty refrigerator and they were considering filing manslaughter charges related to the fire.
It is unclear how many residents were inside the building at the time.
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