ABSTRACT
Scarcely a week goes by without accounts in the technical press, and in the columns of local newspapers, of expensive repairs needed to cladding on high-rise buildings. It is not uncommon for costs exceeding £1 million to be quoted as the sum needed to rectify faults on one high-rise building: the total national cost must be very high. Many such buildings are now surrounded by scaffolding and safety netting to prevent pieces of cladding, thought likely to break off, from falling to the ground, possibly injuring pedestrians. Even a kilo or so of brick or concrete falling from ten storeys may cause more than alarm and despondency-and some panels weigh well over a tonne.
