Following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, the Minister for Building and Construction asked me to undertake an audit of non-compliant Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP) cladding.
ACP is available in Australia in different forms. Many ACP products have been tested for fire-resistance and are compliant. The audit focused on ACP with a flammable polyethylene core (PE).
The audit report has been completed and released.
As confirmed in the audit results released last year, the audit resulted in one building, the Launceston General Hospital, requiring rectification works. The DHHS has commenced these works.
The remaining 42 buildings considered in the audit were found not to have any additional risk to fire safety.
The audit process has resulted in several outcomes which are being progressed, including the rectification works at the LGH (first stage of work completed 22 December 2017), and the adoption of new regulations which commenced on 27 December 2017 restricting the use of ACP with a PE core in Tasmania via the Product Accreditation processes in the Building Act 2016.
As Director of Building Control I also intend to work closely with industry to ensure all parts of the industry are aware of and are working to appropriate standards.
This work will involve improving the standard of documentation for commercial building works, and delivering training in the use and certification of performance based solutions for Building Surveyors, Architects and Building Designers.
The audit report is available at www.justice.tas.gov.au