Anyone used a building notice rather than submitting plans like they did for the tower block?

not in the near od Scotland .......

I thought the building notice meant it was *only* checked by visits as it progressed?

Yes. but there are no statutory points where anyone has to visit on that job.

If it were you building an extension you would have to have visits like when you did the foundations, drains, etc.

So the question must be what visits were made?

The real fault isn't in the cladding but in the system used to bypass proper building control IMNSHO.

I don't think building notices are intended for works like that but more for minor jobs like the odd house.

But who's going to care in four years time when the public enquiry does something?

eg a missing firestop at every floor level?

Even if they'd submitted a full plans application, nothing would stand out as being "wrong" the PE version of the alu cladding is (crazily) approved, the drawings from the planning application show reasonable looking robust details ... so you'd still end up depending on what was inspected on visits.

I can't make out the remains of any fitted in the aftermath photos, that correspond to the ones shown in the plans at approx floor/ceil height on the plans but it does have in brackets "where applicable" rather than stating every floor.

If there were any visits or they were at an appropriate time. The statutory visits don't exist in this kind of renovation.

Quality is built in not inspected in

Sign over an aircraft assembly line I once visited.

Quality means fit for purpose and not the best you can get.

Here's the spec for the upgrade including the insulation...

Also used 1" Celotex FR5000 as glazing infill panels.

Bloody hell - oh the irony...

"1.4 Overheating

Grenfell Tower currently suffers from chronic overheating in the summer. "

That's a planning application not a building control plan.

Once you have planning permission you can quite easily change things as far as the structure is concerned as long as the outside view is similar.

It is not the planning departments job to ensure it meets building regs.

"behind" meaning

concrete panel/celotex/cavity/aluminium panel

A whopping 10mm of original insulation on the inside of the concrete wall!

True

But then you'd be paying the architects twice, so why would you, if cost cutting was the aim?

But unless it is held tightly to the surface being insulated, air leakage between celotex and original surface will nullify any benefit. The original surface is very uneven, with some sort of exposed pebbly material.

Also the vertical concrete columns had a profile that cannot be clad without some additional fire-rated foam or rockwool to prevent air leakage. Then these columns were clad with vertical tunnels of that composite material which created a nice chimney for hot gases to shoot up inside.

Being a hot night, many windows were open allowing superheated gases to enter the flats at higher levels, causing secondary fires.

If your flat faced south or south-west, the solar gain would be awful.

There is a caveat with FR5000. If subjected to extreme temperatures, then instead of charring it will then burn. It is only class "O" when covered with non-combustible material.

The building regs have not been updated to consider this style of external cladding. So as it stands, the work is compliant and as long as the contractor is an 'approved person' then inspection (like Fensa or Hetec) should not be needed.

If you went into a builders merchant in 1974 and asked for insulation, you would have been given the choice of fibreglass in rolls for lofts, about 2 inches thick, or maybe thin panels of expanded polystyrene, or slabs of compressed straw-like material, or maybe even told to use those EPS tiles that people stuck on their ceilings with dabs.

And they would have treated you like some sort of eco-freak. "Why do you need insulation ?, just turn the electric heating on"

Wow, you've managed to get in there and do an assessment before the Fire Brigade, Coroner or Insurance Assessor. I'm impressed.