How do I know if the cladding on my building is combustible?
As a result of the recent building world-wide fires caused by combustible cladding products, Australia’s ongoing Senate Inquiry into non-conforming building products has called for a total ban of flammable composite cladding products. Many home and business owners are now questioning what type of cladding has been used on their own homes and workplaces.
The issue has become a significant issue within Australia’s building industry, with each state and territory setting up taskforces to identify which buildings are using unsafe cladding products. Other public buildings, such as Queensland’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, have started replacing their unsafe exterior cladding with fire-safe alternatives like 100 per cent solid aluminium cladding products such as DecoClad.
Here are some tips to find out what cladding is on your home or building to help you and your family stay fire safe.
Check with your builder
If you built your home via a builder, or know which company initially built your home, contact them for the product specifications used on your house. They should have a complete list of all the building products and finishes used on your home.
Call your Strata Agency manager
If you reside in a residential block of apartments or work in a multi-story high-rise with external cladding, you are best to contact your strata management agency or your block’s strata committee. If you are renting, your real estate agent will be able to provide you with the contact of your apartment’s strata contact.
Check with your State Authority or Taskforce
Since the Senate Inquiry into combustible building products, a number of state authorities have developed working groups to identify buildings with unsafe cladding products.
Here are the contacts for each state and territory:
Victorian Cladding Taskforce
Contact: [email protected]
New South Wales Fire Safety and External Wall Cladding Taskforce
Contact: 13 32 20
Queensland Audit Taskforce
Contact: 139 333
Western Australian Building Commission
Contact: 1300 489 099
Tasmania Consumer, Building & Occupational Services
Northern Territory Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics
ACT Cladding Taskforce – announced in July 2017. No details available to date.
What to do if I have combustible cladding on my building?
You need to check that the cladding material on your building meets the Building Code of Australia (BCA), which you can access from the National Construction Code series published by the Australian Building Codes Board. If your cladding product is deemed non-compliant you may need to consider replacing your cladding product.
A compliant cladding product alternative – DecoClad
DecoClad offers a fire-safe cladding alternative that is made from 100% solid aluminium with no flammable core. Aluminium is a metal which is inherently non-combustible and its powder coating will only char when exposed to a heat source. DecoClad meets the stringent Australian building standards, is fire safe and is Australian made. It is available in a range of power-coated colour and timber-look finishes in various sizes and lengths.
Find out more on DecoClad here or contact us for your free quote.
