Kingspan Insulation has been served prohibition notices to prevent the supply and require the recall of certain of its K15 insulation boards.

As part of an ongoing review by the Office for Product Safety and Standards into the current marketing of construction products, following evidence presented at the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, it is working with local authority trading standards to investigate certain products and take enforcement action where necessary.

Kingspan alerted the regulator in October 2021 to the results of its own testing, which showed the performance of certain K15 products did not meet what was stated. The Office for Product Safety and Standards and Birmingham Trading Standards completed independent testing of the product concerned and confirmed that result. They are currently undertaking further testing.

Draft notices requiring the company to provide detailed warnings for all affected products, including that used in buildings, have been issued.

A Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “As part of its ongoing investigation, the Office for Product Safety & Standards (OPSS) has issued Kingspan with notices to stop the supply of certain products, which have been found to have lower fire safety performance levels than as described when sold. Kingspan have been told to [immediately] inform customers who have purchased these products.”
 
In a statement, Kingspan said the action concerns batches of K15 which returned Euroclass D when tested at a small-scale (SBI) by Kingspan and OPSS respectively. But subsequent SBI tests of the same batches of K15, commissioned by Kingspan in accredited independent laboratories, achieved Euroclass C, consistent with the product’s Declaration of Performance (DOP). “Given that the batches concerned also achieved C classifications in more stringent large-scale ISO 9705 tests, Kingspan is confident that there is no product safety issue.”

The action also concerns what Kingspan refers to as “a technicality” with K15’s DOP. “While Kingspan believes it met the appropriate guidance, we are in the process of completing a new DOP to satisfy the OPSS’s requirements. We are very confident we will meet these requirements and pending approval from the OPSS, we expect to resume distribution of K15 in Q1 2022.”

The prohibition notices apply to the following products:

  • For supply at a lower level of performance than described - All Kooltherm K15 products manufactured between 1 August 2021 and 18 October covered by the Declaration of Performance dated 2 August 2021, Reference Number 1002.CPR.2013.K15.007.
  • For supply without a valid declaration of performance or appropriate conformity assessment procedure - All Kooltherm K15 products manufactured from 18 October 2021 covered by the Declaration of Performance dated 2 August 2021, Reference Number 1002.CPR.2013.K15.007.

"K15 is delivered directly to specialist installers on site, and Kingspan's traceability system enabled us to notify all affected customers swiftly," said the company. "Kingspan will work with and support customers through this process."