The U.K. government will consider banning inflammable cladding on high-rise buildings, as a judge-led inquiry in the Grenfell Tower fire got under way on May 21.

Earlier, a government-commissioned building regulations review stopped short of proposing a ban. Architects, building firms and survivors of the June 2017 fire had backed laws forbidding the use of combustible materials in tower blocks.

(Read the government-commissioned report on building regulations.)

A total of 72 people died in the June 2017 fire in west London.Flammable cladding is thought to have contributed to the rapid spread of fire in west London's Grenfell Tower. A total of 72 people died as a result of the blaze, including a 74-year-old who died in January. She had been in the hospital since she was rescued from an upper floor of the 25-story residential tower.

The BBC reports that the Royal Institute of British Architects called for a ban on inflammable cladding, as well as a requirement for sprinklers to be fitted and a second means of escape for high-rise residential buildings.

On May 17, a government-commissioned report into building regulations called for a "radical rethink" of the safety system. It did not, however, recommend an outright ban on inflammable cladding.

The report faulted "indifference and ignorance" as allowing cost to be placed first over safety and called for regulators to "come together" to ensure building safety.

The final 156-page report found that:

• Roles and responsibilities for building safety are unclear
• Regulations and guidance are "ambiguous and inconsistent" and are "misunderstood and misinterpreted"
• Ignorance exists about the rules governing the industry
• The process that drives compliance with the regulations are "weak and complex"
• Competence of people in the system is "patchy"
• The process for testing and certifying products is "disjointed, confusing, unhelpful and lacking any sort of transparency"
• Product testing and marketing is "opaque and insufficient"
• Residents' voices go unheard

Her review is separate to the judge-led inquiry into the Grenfell fire, which began taking evidence on May 21.