South Ayrshire Council has confirmed it has confidence in the safety of its school buildings as checks confirm that three low-rise schools have made use of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) as cladding.
The materials on the three schools – Ayr Academy, Dalmilling Primary and Marr College – were identified as a result of checks undertaken by the Council following the Grenfell Tower fire in London. No schools in South Ayrshire over 18 metres – or four or more storeys in height – in use ACM as cladding. For the three identified low-rise schools, the type of ACM used on these schools is low-risk and one that can be used appropriately for such buildings. All three schools have approved Building Warrants and the materials also have a British Board of Agrement certificate, which essentially confirms that materials are "fit for purpose". In addition, the schools have a variety of fire safety measures such as sprinkler systems, fire alarms, and evacuation plans, which are tested regularly. Donald Gillies, South Ayrshire Council's Head of Property and Risk, said: "These findings are not surprising given how extensively ACM – which comes in many forms – is used in the construction industry and we continue to have confidence in the safety of our school estate. "To provide complete reassurance, we are continuing with further checks of our school estate over the summer months; however we do not expect these to highlight any issues."