THE BURNING ISSUE

Even before London’s Grenfell Tower inferno, the Auckland Council had begun probing fire-safety issues in city buildings, reports Anne Gibson

More than 150 buildings are now being checked for potential fire risks in an Auckland City Council investigation.

Even before last month’s Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, the council was already looking into fire-safety issues. The council’s interest was spurred by a 2014 fire in Melbourne, where a discarded cigarette at the Lacrosse Apartments sparked a blaze which spread rapidly, fuelled by combustible cladding on the building’s exterior.

Burning cladding may also have accelerated the spread of the Grenfell Tower blaze, which killed more than 80 people.

The council says it has so far identified more than 150 buildings which may have some aluminium composite panel (ACP) cladding, and has processed 26 of them as of last Friday. So far, says, Ian McCormick, general manager building control, “we ... have not identified any building that either raises immediate life safety concerns or that we could consider to be high risk.”

But for apartment owners already worried about the potential expense of leaky building repairs, the possibility of fire danger — and the cost of putting it right — is an added concern.

Aluminium composite panels are a particular focus of the probe.

The panels, which are widely used to clad buildings, come in a variety of types. They have an inner and outer surface of sheet aluminium, typically separated by a non-aluminium core. In some cases, that inner core can be made of combustible plastic.

In Auckland, says McCormick, the 150-plus buildings being investigated “includes buildings with no ACP, ACP as a decorative feature, ACP with a polyethylene core and ACP that contains a modified core that has been subject to fire testing or no core at all.

“When in doubt, or if someone thinks it’s ACP, it is on the list until we can satisfy ourselves to the contrary.”

In deciding what buildings to check, the council has responded to public inquiries, contacted cladding suppliers and reviewed data to find buildings over 25m high.

The list includes both residential and commercial buildings, says McCormick. Sixty-six of the ACP-clad buildings identified so far are more than 25m high, he says.

“If we identify a building that is considered dangerous, in conjunction with Fire and Emergency New Zealand, we will be taking immediate action to mitigate any risk.”

Two buildings the council’s experts have visited are the Nautilus, in Orewa, and the Spencer on Byron, in Takapuna. The council’s fire engineers say there are no immediate concerns for people’s safety in either building, says McCormick. “Any concerns over the cladding are well mitigated by other attributes of the building and the fire-safety systems in place.

“All the high rise buildings of any significance that we have identified all contain sprinkler systems as well as other fire-safety measures and are not considered to be an immediate safety concern for the occupants.”

But John Gray, president of the Home Owners and Buyers Association, says fire-safety problems are widespread.

“We are gravely concerned about the serious structural and fire rating deficiencies that have been uncovered in every building we have been working in support of owners to repair,” he says.

“These structural and fire protection deficiencies have presented a real and present risk to the lives of occupants in the event of an earthquake or serious fire.”

Millions of dollars will now be needed to fix problems, Gray says, but buildings should have complied with consents and specifications regarding the control of smoke and fire.

After Grenfell Tower, Building and Construction Minister Nick Smith said he had been advised that similar cladding systems were uncommon here.

“I have asked the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to contact councils and check whether any high-rise buildings have been constructed with these materials prior to the amendments earlier this year,” Smith said last month.

Asked for an update this month, he said the primary checks were being carried out by councils.

“I have been advised of two buildings in Auckland having ACP and both are in the process of being remedied,” he said, referring to Nautilus and Spencer on Byron. I have no further reports at this time.”

McCormick says whatever cladding was used on a building would have been authorised by fire engineers who signed off the project when it was built.

“You could have combustible cladding on it as long as the building was sprinklered and had various other firesafety systems on it.”

The council has engaged an independent fire engineer to examine ACP buildings, consent documents, evaluate

When in doubt ... it is on the list until we can satisfy ourselves to the contrary Ian McCormick