Cladding Victoria 

<div class="row" data-reactroot=""><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><p>The period for home owners in Victoria to make claims over the use of non-compliant flammable panels on their buildings has been extended.</p><p>Owners now have an additional three years to make claims, lengthening the period from 12 to 15 years.</p><p>It sets a new deadline of December, 2026 for legal action to commence, building on the original 10-year liability period that came into effect last December. </p><p>In February, the Victorian government announced a new amendment to the state’s building code which <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-bans-external-cladding-products">banned</a> the use of aluminium composite panels with a core of less than 93 per cent inert mineral filler and expanded polystyrene products used in an external insulation of multi-storey buildings.</p><p>The state government committed $7 million towards insurance to force builders to take on rectification work on hundreds of residential buildings covered with combustible cladding across the Victoria.</p><p>The policy will cover the work of builders and practitioners on rectification jobs overseen by agency Cladding Safety Victoria as securing professional indemnity insurance for cladding-related work on the open market not possible at this point.</p><p>Cladding Safety Victoria will now go after developers on behalf of owners, with penalties available of $80,000 for individuals and up to $400,000 for businesses.</p></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><div><picture><img src="https://tud-prod-tudmedia-oj9w2zshuo0o.s3.amazonaws.com/raw/images/ce290303-96a1-4ccc-951b-de566f8f6726.jpg" width="800"/></picture><div><span style="align-content:center;opacity:0.8">▲ Cladding Safety Victoria said it is working with a select group of reputable builders to rectify their projects at no-profit.</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><p><br>It currently has cladding removal and replacement projects <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-combustible-cladding-rectification">complete or under way on 200 residential apartment buildings across the state</a> with another 53 having signed funding agreements and due to commence work soon.</p><p>Work has been completed on 60 public buildings, including 40 school buildings, eight Victoria Police stations, seven public housing complexes and stadia.</p><p>However, the list of buildings needing cladding rectification is now growing by an estimated 10 to 15 buildings each month.</p><p>More than 700 buildings have been classified as in the highest risk categories, well above the government’s original estimate of 500 when it announced a<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/-victoria-fast-tracks-combustible-cladding-scheme"> $600-million rectification package</a> in the Victorian budget of 2019-20.</p><p>The original funding and program—<a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-foots-the-bill-for-cladding-as-warnings-sound-of-building-crisis">scheduled to run for five years</a>—was initially projected to support rectifying cladding on the government’s stated 500 figure.</p><p>Cladding Safety Victoria chief executive Dan O’Brien said soon after his appointment in August, 2019 that he expected the total to rise on the government’s early estimates.</p><p>More than 3200 properties have been inspected during the past three years as part of Victoria’s statewide cladding audit.</p></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><h2><strong>NSW considers extending assistance</strong></h2></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><p>Work began this week to remove high-risk cladding from a Darlington apartment building, the first of more than 150 in NSW registered for the government’s Project Remediate program.</p><p>The work on the building comes seven years after a <a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/lacrosse-fire-ruling-sends-shudders-through-building-industry-consultants-and-governments">fire in Melbourne’s Lacrosse tower</a>, which was fuelled by combustible cladding.</p><p>The NSW government said the program would provide no-interest loans, free expert program management and the assurance that when remediation work is completed, the work will be accepted by insurers.</p><p><a href="https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-building-commissioner-david-chandler-interview">NSW building commissioner David Chandler</a> said the program had been set up with a consistent approach which assured owners their interests are considered the highest priority.</p><p>“Cladding removal and building remediation is not just about taking off a piece of cladding and replacing it with another,” Chandler said.</p><p>“It’s an opportunity to get a thorough up-front investigation and assessment of the building to determine what is needed to do the job properly.”</p><p>More than 100 apartment and ­office buildings in the City of Sydney have been classified as at high risk of fire because of flammable cladding.</p><p>The state government set aside $139 million in its November budget towards what it said would be a three-year rectification process for the 225 buildings, but has not yet said how the process will be rolled out.</p></div></div></div></div></div>

Legislation has come into effect that will now extend the claim period for owners to make claims over the use of combustible cladding...

07465f41-796e-46b7-ba9b-1bf0b9ce29dc

<div class="row" data-reactroot=""><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><p><strong>Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne has called for a nationwide ban on combustible cladding.</strong></p><p>The announcement, which was made at the commonwealth building ministers’ forum in ­Hobart, comes after a <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/blaze-at-melbourne-apartment-tower-wrapped-in-combustible-cladding">Melbourne CBD apartment tower covered in flammable cladding caught fire on Monday</a>.</p><p>Firefighters said the blaze at the 40-storey Neo200 apartment tower was caused by a discarded cigarette on an apartment balcony, which then was fuelled by the building&#x27;s cladding.</p><p>Fifteen fire trucks, two ladder-platform trucks and 60 firefighters were required to extinguish the fire.</p><p>Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) chief officer Dan Stephens said crews believed the building was clad with similar materials to that on <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/cladding-fire-risk-for-12000-queensland-buildings">London&#x27;s Grenfell Tower, in which 72 people died in a fire in 2017</a>.</p><p>The apartment tower, located on the corner of Spencer and Little Bourke Street, had previously been identified as “moderate risk” owing to its cladding.</p><p>The tower was one of more than 2,000 inspected by the Victorian Building Authority.</p><p>Related: <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/nsw-bans-combustible-cladding-">NSW Bans Combustible Cladding</a></p></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><div><picture><img src="https://tud-prod-tudmedia-oj9w2zshuo0o.s3.amazonaws.com/raw/images/3c5605f0-5393-46fc-8207-11343c68f5e3.jpeg" width="1024"/></picture><div><span style="align-content:left;opacity:0.8">Victoria&#x27;s planning minister Richard Wynne said he would call on state, territory and federal governments to support the ban.</span><span style="float:right;opacity:0.8">Image: Andrew Henshaw</span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><p><br>Earlier this week, Wynne conceded he was yet to appoint a state building inspector, <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/-lethal-building-cladding-banned-in-victoria">despite promising to do so over a year ago</a> as part of measures to address flammable cladding.</p><p>“Victoria has pushed for a national response to flammable cladding ever since the 2014 Lacrosse fire but has been met with frustrating resistance from the federal government,” Wynne said. </p></div></div></div><div class="row ci"><div class="cell cs12 cx12"><div class="ci cl"><p>“Given the fire risk and the cost to apartment owners to fix cladded buildings, the most common-sense approach is to stop this material from coming in to the country all together - and we need federal government support to make that happen.”</p><p>The Victorian government has refused to release its list of 360 high-risk buildings its cladding taskforce has identified including apartment towers, schools and hospitals.</p><p>Minister Wynne said publishing the list could prompt arsonists to target affected buildings.</p><p>Premier Daniel Andrews said the <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/-lethal-building-cladding-banned-in-victoria">cladding taskforce</a>, created after Melbourne&#x27;s <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/whats-going-non-compliant-cladding">LaCrosse building caught alight in 2014</a>, had paved the way forward to reform.</p><p>Last year the Victorian government set in motion a scheme to enable &quot;cladding rectification agreements&quot; in order to <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/victoria-reduces-cost-of-flammable-cladding-removal-">provide a low-cost financing option to help owners remove dangerous combustible cladding</a> from their properties.</p><p>Despite these measures, aluminium composite cladding remains on the market and Minister Wynne said the federal government had a critical role to play in ensuring the building products coming into the country are safe and compliant.</p><p>“We’ve seen how quickly fires spread up buildings fitted with combustible cladding and we have a responsibility to stamp out these sub-standard building materials,” Wynne said.   </p></div></div></div></div></div>

Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne has called for a nationwide ban on combustible cladding.

VICTORIAN CLADDING TASKFORCE