A costed proposal to fit Grenfell Tower with panels that did not burn was dropped amid pressure from the Conservative council to slash the cost of the refurbishment, the Guardian has been told. A cladding company which fits nonflammable aluminium panels claimed it provided a £3.3m quote to fit its system to the 24-storey tower in west London at the request of Leadbitter, Kensington and Chelsea’s preferred contractor in 2013. But the council later decided that the costs for the cladding were too high and put the contract out to tender to save £1.3million, eventually awarding it to Rydon. It selected Rydon, which provided a lower price but fitted the building with combustible cladding which caught fire on 14 June 2017, killing 72 people in what lawyers for victims have called a “national atrocity”. But it has now emerged that although they went with the cheaper, combustible cladding at £1.3million, the more expensive option would have both saved lives and been cheaper in the long run. Survivors' group Grenfell United said today's revelations were 'heartbreaking', with Sandra Ruiz, who lost her niece in the blaze, adding: 'It is more news that tells us our loved ones would be alive today if different decisions had been taken and if the people in charge had put safety first,' said Sandra Ruiz, who lost her niece in the fire. “We need the inquiry to get to the bottom of why plans for the refurbishment were changed and why when the community raised concerns they were ignored.”

Peter Hillyard, the director of D+B Facades, said his company was asked to provide costs for solid aluminium sheets which do not spread flame, backed with mineral wool insulation which does not burn. He said the thought that his company’s safer and cheaper system was not used sent a shiver down his spine. Stephen Mackenzie, an independent fire safety expert, said that if D+B's version had been used it would have performed better in the fire. “There would have been little or no fire spread, so the lives lost at Grenfell may have been prevented,” said Stephen Mackenzie, an independent fire safety consultant. A report carried out after the fatal fire found there was pressure from the council to cut costs on the project - despite the authority being in 'robust' financial health. In the days after the fire, it was revealed that the type of cladding used on the 24-storey Grenfell Tower is banned in the US over fire safety fears. Bouygues, which now owns Leadbitter, declined to comment on the cost plan for noncombustible cladding, citing the police investigation and public inquiry.
The Guardian reports that the Grenfell Tower in London, which burned down last year with the loss of 71 lives, received a quote for non-flammable cladding but it was rejected for a more expensive option which exacerbated the fire.