Tenants in the dark on flammable-cladding fire-trap risk in their buildings
The Age
By: Aisha Dow, Liam Mannix
23 June 2017
Hundreds of tenants living in at least a dozen high-rise blocks are
unaware their buildings could be flammable-cladding fire traps.
In the wake of the Grenfell fire disaster in London, it has become
clear that neither the Victorian government nor its agencies understand
the full extent of the cladding threat across Melbourne.
Planning Minister Richard Wynne has slammed the Victorian Building
Authority, which has been leading the government's investigation into
the cladding issue, for a slow response to the controversy.
"The VBA needs to be more responsive when dealing with the critical issue of cladding," a spokesman for Mr Wynne said.
Lynn Li, 28, said she had not been told anything about the cladding on her building. Photo: Supplied
He said the building authority needed to explain why it had taken so
long to hold disciplinary hearings into the building practitioners who
worked on the Lacrosse building, which was ravaged by a blaze fuelled
by cladding similar to that installed on Grenfell Tower.
"They need to explain why it has taken so long to bring the
practitioners in question before a disciplinary hearing," the
minister's spokesman said.
buildings have been placed on a enhanced response list by fire authorities
Residents are now finding themselves in the troubling situation of
learning secondhand they are living in buildings that have been placed
on a heightened alert by fire authorities due to suspected flammable
cladding.
"That's terrifying," said Matt Roberts, 31, after being told his
building, the Elm Apartments in Southbank, is one of six buildings the
Metropolitan Fire Brigade has placed on its enhanced response list.
Resident Matt Roberts outside the Elm Apartments in Southbank. Photo: Jason South
The builder of the 286-unit tower, Hickory, said it was now undertaking
testing, despite having certificates from the cladding manufacturer
that Hickory said verified its compliance with the building code.
"Knowing what we know from recent events in the Docklands and London,
we have decided to build a mock-up of a small section of the building
and have this tested by the CSIRO in order to work out if additional
precautionary measures can be implemented that will better protect this
building in the event of a fire," a Hickory spokeswoman said.
Lynn Li, 28, lives in the Harvest Apartments in South Melbourne, where
30 per cent of the building's facade is covered in combustible
aluminium and polystyrene panels.
Ms Li and a number of other residents said they had not been told
anything about the cladding – even though the building is considered
particularly vulnerable as it does not have a sprinkler system.
There is no set timeline for when the cladding will be removed by the owners of the building.
"I'm just feeling very uncomfortable," said Ms Li, a Crown casino
worker. "They have not told us. They should have, especially after
London."
Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Mark Carter said the brigade would
support a national audit of cladding used in high-rise buildings.
unwittingly put themselves in more danger by smoking on their balcony
Commander Carter said residents living in the buildings on the fire
authority's enhanced response list should not be left in the dark – as
they might unwittingly put themselves in more danger by smoking on
their balcony.
"We want them to know because we want them to take some measures themselves to help look after their own backyard," he said.
While councils have informed the owners corporations [board of
directors] of buildings where cladding is being investigated, it
appears that the message has not got through to all residents.
Industry insiders warn that throughout the suburbs, a number of
medium-sized apartment buildings that do not have sprinkler systems
could also be covered in flammable cladding.
Fire safety engineer Stephen Kip, contracted to assess problem
buildings by owners, said he believed another 10 buildings across
metropolitan Melbourne should be evacuated.
worried about leaving residents homeless
But he said the councils responsible for investigating the buildings' safety were worried about leaving residents homeless.
Mr Kip said the buildings were dangerous as they had combustible
facades and, in some cases, mould was growing inside the building due
to water leaks.
"Each building would have more than 100 people living in it," he said.
Since the Lacrosse fire in Docklands in 2014, the Victorian Building
Authority has audited about 260 buildings mostly in the central city
but hand-balled major decisions about their safety to council building
surveyors.
The Andrews government is under increasing pressure to step in and ensure the state's buildings are safe.
To date, the VBA has found six buildings that will need to be stripped
of cladding or have other works done. Action is also likely on a
further 17 Central Business District properties.
VBA chief executive Prue Digby said the authority could not yet be sure of the scale of the problem across Victoria.
we can't tell how many buildings are impacted
"We can only extrapolate from the results of the audits that we have
done to date, so the short answer is we can't tell how many buildings
are impacted in terms of non-compliance across Victoria," Ms Digby said.
Aluminium composite panels have been widely installed in Australia for
about 30 years – leading some to speculate they are on thousands of
buildings.
Ms Digby, who is stepping down as chief executive in October, said any
delays in disciplinary hearings were out of the control of the VBA as
it had handed over its briefs to the Building Practitioners Board early
last year.
She said Victoria had not been given the credit it deserved for its cladding audit.
"Ok, it was generated by the Lacrosse fire, but we moved very quickly
after those findings came out to launch this audit process. It was the
first national audit of its kind that has ever been conducted," she
said.
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