Australia’s Unavoidable MultiMillion Dollar Caddling Problem
Thousands of property owners across Australia could soon be faced with unavoidable multi-million-dollar bills - or even prison - if they fail to ensure buildings constructed with flammable cladding materials don’t meet new safety regulations. Following the devastating Grenfell tower fire disaster last year in the UK that killed 72 people, Australian states and territories have begun to act to minimise the risk of a similar tragedy happening locally.
The flammable type of cladding that caused the worst domestic blaze in Britain since World War II - and is now the focus of country-wide investigations - is aluminium composite panelling (ACP) with a polyethylene core. And while each state and territory is approaching the life-threatening issue differently, it is in NSW where unknowing residents could be hit with ginormous bills they have no way of avoiding or face being fined - or even sent to jail.
That’s because this month, not only did the state Liberal government outlaw multiple flammable cladding types, including ACP, on new and existing buildings of two storeys or higher - requiring owners to register them online and work towards removing the panelling or sufficiently mitigating any risk - but they also moved to ban the material retrospectively. That means residents of buildings built years ago with the cladding must now also rectify what is deemed dangerous.
The NSW branch president of the Strata Community Association (SCA), Chris Duggan told 9News.com.au the bill would fall onto strata residents who likely moved into the buildings while completely unaware of the financial burden the exterior cladding could present.