School gets pass mark on cladding
A GOLD Coast school has been declared free of flammable aluminium cladding after an inspection in the wake of the tragic London fire, but other buildings in the city are yet to be examined by the State Government’s Audit Taskforce.
The Commonwealth Games Athletes Village is also likely to be assessed by the taskforce, which is examining building records for all major public buildings, including schools, hospitals and aged care homes.
A spokesman for Games contractor Grocon said the village did not contain any type of aluminium cladding.
A Senate Inquiry Committee this week recommended state-based licences for builders, surveyors, inspectors, certifiers and project managers be scrapped in favour of a national system under sweeping reforms to prevent a Grenfell Tower-scale disaster happening in Australia.
In June, 79 people died when London’s Grenfell Tower, wrapped in flammable cladding, went up in flames.
A report from the inquiry committee said every square metre of the polyethylene-core cladding was as flammable as five litres of petrol, and that it must be banned from Australia as “a matter of urgency”.
Housing Minister Mick de Brenni said the Queensland Government had already moved to stop use of the cladding through its chain of responsibility laws and powers to intervene during construction of new buildings.
“No matter where these products come from, and no matter where the businesses making, importing, selling or installing them are based, if there is an attempt to bring a non-conforming product into Queensland, people are ac- countable under our strong new laws,” he said.
“Trying to fix this problem by putting more pressure on to tradies, certifiers and home owners isn’t the best approach. We will get stronger, faster results by holding to account the companies that manufacture, import and sell these products.
“If someone brings dodgy cladding or wiring over the wharf in the Port of Brisbane, or across the border from NSW, our authorities now have new powers to deal with them.”
Mr de Brenni yesterday confirmed one unnamed Gold Coast school had been inspected and found not to contain the dangerous cladding.
He said no suspect private buildings had been brought to the attention of the taskforce.
The Senate inquiry was supposed to be completed two years ago and was set up after fire roared up Melbourne apartment building Lacrosse in just 11 minutes, forcing the evacuation of 400 residents.
It received more than 140 submissions in 2015 but stalled after repeated extensions of time and a federal election.
The final report is due for release on April 30, 2018.