Kingspan appoints law firm to review insulation classification

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Kingspan has been in the spotlight over its poor record with the miss selling of insulation to the industry, and the exaggeration of the protection of its products and is revealing a revamp of its business to be sure that what happened at the Grenfell inquiry “can never happen again.”

Kingspan commented saying: “These issues relate to unacceptable employee conduct at its UK Insulation Boards business, and historical process shortcomings by this business.”

The Grenfell inquiry has heard how Kingspan ignored safety concerns from contractors and those within its own company who continued promoting “Kooltherm K15” boards in high rise buildings even though they were known to have failed fire tests within the company.

Kingspan commented further saying: “Kingspan apologises unreservedly once again for these shortcomings which are not consistent with its values or its commitment to conduct its business to the highest safety standards.”

Gene Murtagh, Chief Executive Officer of Kingspan said: “The unacceptable conduct and historical process shortcomings, involving a small number of employees in our UK insulation boards business, do not reflect the high standards of integrity and safety that are core Kingspan values, deeply held by our people.

“We have already implemented several important changes that demonstrate our commitment to product compliance and good governance.

“Our aims are clear: to reassure that safety takes precedence over all other considerations and to ensure this can never happen again.”

Kingspan have appointed Law firm Eversheds Sutherland they has been reviewing the UK Insulation Boards business and drafted an action plan to try to take the issue or misclassification at source.

They are attempting to set out “New fire testing and accreditation protocols” and the introduction of a new Marketing Integrity Manual “is underway” to try to address the failings that lead to the Grenfell disaster.

A Group Head of Compliance & Certification reporting directly to the Group CEO has been appointed alongside a change in senior management at the business.