Laing O'Rourke flagged Kingspan K15 insulation to BDP in 2008, court papers show
Court documents show Laing O'Rourke asked architect BDP in December 2008 whether Kingspan Kooltherm K15 insulation on a block over 18 metres tall in Bury, England, met Building Regulations, years before the façade was remediated and BDP paid the contractor £1.125m.
The query, dated 4 December 2008, concerned Block C at The Rock, a retail and residential development in Bury that Laing O'Rourke handed over in July 2010, Construction News reported. The contractor pointed out that K15 did not count as a material of limited combustibility, a condition of one compliance route for buildings taller than 18 metres, and asked BDP to clarify the specification. BDP pointed it to Kingspan's product literature and a technical bulletin and said it was pursuing approval from building control.
Following a 2017 investigation of the cladding, Laing O'Rourke did the remedial work, finishing in April 2021 at a cost it put at £1.84m. It pursued BDP for about £1.83m. BDP, which denied liability, settled in July 2026 for £1.125m including legal costs, without admitting wrongdoing.
The 2008 exchange came out in BDP's separate lawsuit against Kingspan. The architect wants to recover the settlement and alleges that Kingspan dishonestly misrepresented how K15 performs in fire. Kingspan denies this. It argues that BDP never showed the wall system complied, for instance by testing or assessing the whole wall, and says the Alucobond and Eternit panels on the façade may be what made it non-compliant. BDP answers that the "three routes to compliance" concept cited by Kingspan only appeared in public guidance in 2014, and it denies negligence.
None of these claims has been decided by a court. Laing O'Rourke's query predates the Grenfell Tower fire by more than eight years.
Why it matters: A short query from 2008 is now evidence in a fight over who pays for a recladding finished in 2021. Put product compliance questions in writing, keep the replies, and record who relied on whose assurance: that file can decide liability a decade later.
Sources
- Laing O'Rourke's 2008 Kingspan fire query revealed in £1.1m disputeFacilities Management Now, Oct 28
- Laing O'Rourke's 2008 Kingspan fire query revealed in £1.1m disputeConstruction News, Oct 28