Skip to content
Skip to main content
Call Us Today Request a Specification

How to Spot Unsafe Cladding on Your Building

The Alucobond Ghana Team

  • fire-safety
  • advice

The Uncomfortable Truth: You Can’t See It

The single most important fact about aluminium composite cladding is also the most inconvenient one: you cannot tell a safe panel from a dangerous one by looking at it. A panel with a combustible polyethylene (PE) core and a panel with a non-combustible A2 mineral core have the same aluminium skins, the same colours, the same finishes. From the street, they are indistinguishable.

That is exactly why unsafe cladding goes unnoticed until something forces the question. If you own, manage, or occupy a clad building in Ghana, this guide is about how to actually find out — not guess — what is on your wall.

Why the Core Is the Whole Question

An ACP panel is two thin aluminium skins bonded either side of a core, and the core decides the fire behaviour:

The risk in this market is simple and common: a building is quoted “ACP” and given a cheap PE core, with no disclosure. The owner never knew the question to ask.

Warning Signs Worth Investigating

None of these prove a problem on their own, but each is a reason to look harder.

1. No paperwork names the core

If nobody can produce a panel data sheet and an EN 13501-1 classification for what was installed, the core is effectively unknown. “It’s Alucobond” is not an answer — Alucobond and other brands are sold in PE, FR and A2 cores. The core and its Euroclass must be named.

2. The original quote competed only on price

If the façade was awarded on lowest price with no specification naming the core, the odds of an undisclosed PE core rise sharply. That is the most common way unsafe cladding ends up on a Ghanaian building.

3. Height and occupancy raise the stakes

A combustible core matters far more on a tall building, a hospital, a hotel, a school, or any high-occupancy use. If your building is in one of those categories and the core is undocumented, it should move to the top of your list.

4. Damaged or cut panels

An exposed panel edge — at a damaged corner, a service penetration, or a removed panel — sometimes reveals the core’s character. This is a clue for a professional, not a DIY test; do not cut into a live façade yourself.

How to Actually Confirm It

Guessing is not safety. There is a defined way to find out:

  1. Request the original documentation — panel data sheets and the EN 13501-1 classification from the time of installation.
  2. If none exists, commission a façade survey — a structured inspection that identifies the panel type, often by sampling and core identification at discreet locations.
  3. Read it against the building — height, use, and occupancy decide whether the installed core is appropriate or needs to be replaced.

The real standards that frame this are EN 13501-1 (reaction-to-fire Euroclass, tested by methods like ASTM E84), with whole-system façade behaviour assessable by full-scale tests. We specify and document against the standard relevant to the project, and never claim a rating a panel does not hold.

Honest Note on What Comes Next

If a survey finds a combustible core where it should not be, the honest path is re-cladding — and that is a real cost, not a small one. We will not pretend otherwise. But the cost of knowing is far lower than the cost of not knowing, and a re-clad façade is also an opportunity to fix cavity detailing, fire barriers, and weatherproofing properly. What we will never do is tell you a wall is fine without the evidence to back it.

In Short

You cannot see the core. You can document it. If your building’s cladding has no paperwork naming the core and its EN 13501-1 class, that is the question to close — calmly and properly.

For a façade survey and core identification, see our fire-rated ACP page, or call +233 27 000 0844.