Cardinal Lofts: Fire risk building was approved by council

A report into a block of flats deemed a fire risk shows a council signed off the plans despite them not complying with building regulations at the time.

Documents show the cladding used on the top three floors of Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich was not compliant.

On Tuesday, the fire service issued a prohibition notice for the building, forcing people to leave their homes.

Ipswich Borough Council said it would be inappropriate to comment.

According to another document a building surveyor for the authority signed off on the build in January 2010 as "the substantive requirements of the building regulations are satisfied".

However the report from 2020, first detailed by Inside Housing and seen by the BBC, said the combustible insulation did not comply with regulations or guidance at the time of the build.

Insulation used in the top three floors of Cardinal Lofts was a Class E material, which is "highly combustible" according to the report.

According to the report: "This wall type is not compliant with current building regulations guidance, nor the guidance at the time of construction".

The report says although guidance at the time was "less clear", it stated insulation material in buildings over 18m should be of "limited combustibility", which the Class E material was not.

An Ipswich Borough Council spokesperson said: "The council is not aware of any remediation plans for the defects discovered.

"Investigations into the structure of this building are ongoing. Until outcomes are known, it is not appropriate to comment further."

Freeholders Grey GR, who did not build the flats, said since the original fire safety risks were identified more detailed surveys had been carried out which "provided more detail regarding the property's issues".

In a statement, a spokesman said: "The latest report to be carried out, the Type 4 Compartmentation survey, is the most intrusive so far as it expanded investigations into individual apartments.

"These new findings concluded that the condition of compartmentation throughout the building is inadequate - due to the poor standard of redevelopment by the original developers.

"Consistent with recommended procedures, these highly detailed and intrusive surveys would not have been done as part of the acquisition of the freehold by Grey, or indeed by leaseholders upon purchase."

The freeholders said they were "fully committed to remediating Cardinal Lofts and to return residents to safe homes".

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