Good Governance

Combustible cladding:

Stage 3b and beyond

Is your building one of the thousands of bodies corporate that contains some form of combustible cladding in Australia?

Are you registered on the Queensland Safer Buildings Cladding Register and heading toward the Stage 3b deadline? Are you wondering what to do next?

The Building and Other Legislation [Cladding] Amendment Regulation 2018 [Queensland] was introduced as an amendment to the Building Regulation 2006 [Queensland] in October 2018. It essentially outlaws the use of combustible cladding materials in Class 2-9, Type A and B construction in new buildings, and requires removal [or risk management] if installed in buildings older than January 1, 1994, built prior to October 1, 2018.

If your building falls inside this category, you should have by now registered at Stage 1 and 2 of the Safer Buildings Cladding Register and be looking toward completing Stage 3b. Most likely, you will have engaged a fi re engineer and possibly completed your Cladding Report. If you have done this, you will also be displaying your Aff ected Private Building Notice (Form 42) in the entry area as well as informing all your occupants of the presence of cladding in the building via the Aff ected Private Building Notice (Form 42).

Lynda Kypriadakis,

Diverse FMX

It is likely that at Stage 2 your building would have been fl agged with the Queensland Fire & Emergency Service (QFES) as a higher risk property so that if a fi re breaks out onsite, the fi re brigade can come prepared for a potential combustible cladding emergency. At least you can expect a prompt response to your fi re alarm call! Perhaps a small perk of the big brother is watching scenario…

Safer Buildings Cladding Register Stage 3b Deadline - May 3, 2021

For applicable buildings, you have until May 3 to have your Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment (BFSRA) statement completed by the fi re engineer. This statement will detail the extent of risk and propose remedial options to eliminate or reduce that risk as well as interim measures to implement until you remove, or otherwise, your cladding.

Interim mitigation measures are simply actions to be taken to reduce the risk of a catastrophic fi re event occurring prior to the building owner can gett ing suffi ciently organised to install the suggested upgrades required to eliminate the cladding fi re risk. These may include additional evacuation procedures, extra notices around the building, changes to smoking onsite rules, etc. These interim fi re safety measures will be prescribed within the fi re engineer’s report and are likely to also be detailed by your building insurer.

The most important thing to focus on at Stage 3b is the implementation of the interim fi re mitigation measures recommended by the fi re engineer in the BFSRA and the insurer under the policy for the building.

As a body corporate (and/or a facilities manager or caretaker under a caretaking agreement with the body corporate) it would important that you retain an audit trail of implementing the prescribed interim fi re mitigation measures. If a fi re event was to occur on the common property of the scheme, the insurer would certainly be requiring these records as evidence of vigilance in risk management. Readers of this article who have infl uence over the common property, i.e. committ ee members, strata managers or building managers, are encouraged to take heed and ascertain who, i.e., which individual, is taking care of this important duty.

How long do we have until we have to remove our cladding or upgrade our fi re protection system?

If your fi re engineer has prescribed that full removal of cladding or some sort of upgrade to the fi re protection system is ultimately required to deem your building to be compliant under the Regulation and Building Code of Australia, it is likely that these measures will require signifi cant costs and outlays. a deadline for how long you can continue to implement your interim fi re mitigation measures and avoid cladding upgrade building works or fi re protection system upgrades; however, we expect that your insurer will have something to say about it! Expect changes to your insurance policy if you have combustible cladding and are implementing interim fi re mitigation measures, so the key to your decision making is the cost of insurance premium increases over time, versus the cost to undertake the required building works.

Building upgrades required due to combustible cladding concerns can be expensive and involve a great deal of fi nancial distress and disruption to bodies corporate. The temptation to put these works off will for various reasons will no doubt be there, however the primary repercussion of avoiding replacement of your combustible cladding and relying on interim fi re mitigation measures is likely to be a spike in your insurance premium, additional excess charges and potentially further requirements imposed by your insurer. Eventually your building may fi nd itself uninsurable.

When projecting costs for cladding or fi re protection system upgrades, do not forget to include these other associated costs:

Q-Leave Levy for works over $150,000

Private Certifi cation. These works will be considered assessable under the Building Codes and will require certifi cation.

Engineering design and certifi cation

Project management

Colour consultant

Town planning consultant. If you are changing the colour of your cladding, you may also need to get an amendment to the Development Approval.