Australia: The owners of potentially thousands of buildings in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) will have to replace their cladding after the government retrospectively banned aluminium panels with a core of more than 30% polyethylene. It is seeking to prevent fires such as those seen in Melbourne's Lacrosse building and Grenfell Tower in London, UK.
The ban, announced by Fair Trading Commissioner Rose Webb, goes further than previous announcements by state governments in Queensland and Victoria that banned the use of high-content polyethylene cladding, as it also affects existing buildings, rather than just those in planning or under construction.
"The building product is unsafe for use in any external cladding, external wall, external insulation, façade or rendered finish in buildings (as low as two storeys, depending on purpose), subject to specified exceptions," said Ms Webb in a communique. "I therefore decided to prohibit the use of the building product."
The number of buildings affected by the ban is unclear. In June 2018, the state government said Fire & Rescue NSW had assessed 2280 buildings and found 417 in need of closer scrutiny. A register of buildings with combustible cladding, drawn up in the wake of an audit conducted by the NSW Cladding Taskforce, is due to come into effect in 2018, but may not be made public.
Under the ban permitted under NSW cladding legislation passed in late 2017, local councils and other relevant authorities will be able to issue rectification orders for affected buildings.
