Senate inquiry report delayed for two years

A SENATE inquiry which could have closed loopholes that have allowed dangerous cladding to be installed across Australia has dragged on for two years.

A final report into nonconforming building products was due in October 2015 but now won’t be ready before October this year.

The Senate’s economic committee sought and was granted several extensions to report and didn’t manage to get it done before May last year when the Senate was dissolved ahead of the federal election.

The inquiry was reopened in October and was to report on May 25 – however it has been granted yet another extension until October 31.

Many submissions to the inquiry described the building product testing regimen as “too flexible” and could allow products which had failed testing to be approved by a “qualified opinion”.

Fire safety bodies and businesses said often certifiers were too close to builders and that product manufac- turers were testing their own products, with results hard or impossible to find.

The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council said the presence of the polyethylene-core aluminium cladding that fuelled the 2014 Lacrosse fire in Melbourne showed the system was not working.

The group, which represents fire services nationwide, said results of product testing should be publicly accessible and imports that had not been tested independently for their intended use should be stopped at or before the border.

“The use of a non-compliant building product in the Lacrosse fire is a clear example that the regulatory scheme has significant gaps that reduce building quality, increase costs and risks to the community and impact on the operations of the fire and emergency services,” said their submission from CEO Stuart Ellis.

Many other submissions called for better education of contractors and suppliers so products were not used in settings where they were not “fit for purpose”.