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Grenfells Tower (cont)

Preliminary reports are that the cladding used was the problem as I thought. It was highly flammable. Compounding that was that the cladding details commonly used to block or compartmentalize the spread of fire were not used. These include fire breaks at every floor which is basically a small strip of sheet metal. It also would have helped if the insulation behind the cladding was not plastic foam.

You can blame the local council for greed but that is a false target.

No construction of that magnitude can proceed without Engineers and Architects. We have a case here where those involved were ignorant of these requirements or ignored them. In the first case that is professional incompetence. In the second criminal negligence causing death. Either choice means they are at fault. I hope they never work in the construction industry again once the prison terms are up. Well maybe cleaning sewers.

Our local news has been doing interviews with academics and professionals about the situation here. All claim our national standards are better and have specific requirements about materials and tests and safety. This is true. I suspect though that there are similar standards in the UK. Even if the UK standards are “lax” professionals should literally know better.

I am not confident that in Canada and specifically in Vancouver that the professions are immune to pressure from developers and owners. I know for example that two adjacent buildings must have a fire rated separation between them. Often when you see an old building torn down you will see a rough old brick or concrete wall on the face the neighbor building. No doors or windows. That is the fire barrier. Recently there was a news story about a new apartment building going up so close to an existing one the workers could step across the gap between balconies.

I had a WTF moment. Obviously in this case there was no fire separation. The news was about the feeling of insecurity the tenants had with foul mouthed dirty construction workers so close. The main complaint was they were sold apartments that had a view that was now gone. The Real estate agents told them it had a view when the bought it. So F off. The real problem is when a fire erupts in one building it will spread to the other. That was not mentioned at all.

How that happened may have involved ignorance, or bribes or just uninformed variances by building officials. Building inspectors are generally not encyclopedic experts, but often clerks who reference rules they barely understand. The rules are subject to pressures as well which is why wood is allowed in non-combustible construction.

Further investigation by building authorities in the UK have found hundreds of similar buildings with the same material used in the same way as Grenfells. The cladding manufacturer for some reason is not answering their phone. It is my hope they remedy the problem quickly. They are already finding alternate housing sites, but it is unlikely that there are thousands of empty apartments in the London area given its one of the most expensive cities in the world.

A human tragedy, a bureaucratic mess, an intense moment of TV news.

#grenfell tower #professional incompetence

It's been two weeks and I haven't heard anything from the psychiatrist, so my dad went up today and asked about it, and apparently she hasn't put anything on the system at all about the appointment? Wtf is wrong with these assholes and this shitty fucking system?!

#psychiatry #anti-psychiatry #mental health system #professional incompetence #I'm sick of them I'm sick of this I can't