Cladding is a type of building material that can be used on the outside skin of a building. It is used to provide thermal insulation and weather resistance, and to improve the appearance of buildings.
While there are many different types of cladding, certain types can burn rapidly if they catch alight and melt at relatively low temperatures – these are known as combustible cladding. There are generally three types of combustible cladding that are of concern:
- Aluminium Composite Panels (ACP) - sandwich type panels are usually between 2-5mm thick, that consist of two aluminium outer layers and a core material.
- Expanded Polystyrene Systems (EPS) - external wall systems comprised of bulk foam insulation that is fixed to a structural frame and then sealed, rendered, and painted
- Biowood - reconstituted wood plastic composite (WPC) product comprising a mix of reconstituted wood (predominantly 70%), UPVC (a rigid form of PVC used for windows) and additives affixed to buildings to give the same aesthetics and functional attributes as timber.
It may be difficult to identify combustible cladding visually, because it can look like rendered brick, concrete, or solid wood and not all aluminium cladding products are combustible.
Learn more about the types of cladding, and fire safety on the Resources & Fact Sheets page.