The client-side project manager tasked with overseeing the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower has told the inquiry into 2017’s disaster that she flagged concerns spurred by 2009’s Lakanal House fire but did not read a key safety document in relation to her own scheme.

Claire Williams, who was Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation’s project manager on the Grenfell refurbishment from 2013 until its practical completion in 2016, said she knew a contractor connected with the earlier Southwark fire and understood cladding was an issue.

Williams was being quizzed about an email she sent to Simon Lawrence, who was contracts manager for design-and-build contractor Rydon in November 2014. In the email she described having a Lakanal “moment” in relation to Grenfell.

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