Defect type
High · 3–4/5
Recessed Downlight in Contact With Ceiling Insulation
From the roof space I observed ceiling insulation laid directly over or against recessed halogen or older LED downlight bodies with no clearance barrier. I have attended ceiling-cavity fires traced to this arrangement in housing from the 1990s and 2000s insulation rollouts, where the trapped fitting heat reached ignition temperatures at the insulation face.
Causes
- Insulation installed or topped up without lifting or isolating existing downlight bodies
- Original IC-rated clearance guards removed, crushed, or never fitted by the installer
- Halogen downlights retained during a reinsulation without upgrade to IC-F rated LED units
Symptoms to look for
- Insulation visibly compressed or scorched around the top of downlight cans in the ceiling cavity
- Downlight lens discoloured, sagging, or showing heat damage from the room side
- Mixed installation of old halogen transformers and loose-fill insulation in the same roof space
Remedies
- Replace halogen fittings with IC-F rated LED downlights that allow direct insulation abutment
- Where halogens are retained, fit compliant non-combustible clearance guards around each body
- Re-lay insulation to full design coverage only once clearances are verified from the roof space
Critical
Get an inspector through this property.
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