Qld buildings still contain flammable cladding seven years after Grenfell

More than a dozen major Queensland government-owned buildings, including three hospitals, still contain potentially lethal combustible cladding seven years after London’s horrific Grenfell Tower fire shocked the world.

More than a dozen major Queensland government-owned buildings, including three hospitals, still contain potentially lethal combustible cladding seven years after London’s horrific Grenfell Tower fire shocked the world.

And close to 1000 private buildings could also be at risk, with the government not setting a deadline for when those properties must be rectified.

Following the UK tragedy, which killed 72 people when a fire took hold in the 24-storey building clad in flammable aluminium composite panels, jurisdictions around the globe including Queensland took immediate steps to ban the product and remove it from existing buildings.

But The Courier-Mail can reveal 14 Queensland government sites still contained combustible cladding including Cairns, Logan and Mackay hospitals, though some buildings within the hospitals have been completed.

The QIMR Berghofer research institute

The Brisbane Entertainment Centre, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research and the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre had also not had their lethal cladding removed.

Metricon Stadium, the Cairns Convention Centre, the Carseldine Government Precinct, the Ecosciences Precinct Building, the Queensland State Archives, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital busway station, the Runaway Bay Sport and Leadership Excellence Centre and William McCormack Place were also listed as affected government sites.

A Department of Housing and Public Works spokesman told The Courier-Mail about 95 per cent of Queensland government buildings had had their rectification works completed, or works were ongoing.

“Interim fire safety risk mitigation measures were implemented to ensure all identified buildings are safe to occupy,” he said.

The Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre at Brisbane’s Nathan

“Full completion of the rectification program for government buildings is expected in 2025.”

The spokesman said the state government was undertaking a three-stage approach in response to the issues, which involved the comprehensive identification of all materials that present a cladding fire risk and to ensure fire risk mitigation and rectification is comprehensive and robust.

Hundreds of private buildings also still contained the flammable cladding, with Queensland repeatedly refusing to offer owners financial support to remove the materials – as was done in New South Wales and Victoria.

As of last June, 949 buildings had been identified as needing a “solution to address the risk”, 297 still to complete the process were potentially at risk and 222 have notified removal or rectification.

The RBWH busway station. Picture: Michael Zimmer/Flickr

The department said private building owners were required to complete a safety checklist by May 2021, but about 5 per cent had not been completed.

But while the state government had strongly encouraged private building owners to address the cladding fire risk, there was no deadline to do so.

“In Queensland, rectification of private buildings is the responsibility of building owners,” the spokesman said.

“The QBCC is monitoring compliance with the checklist, including site audits, to ensure relevant private building owners are displaying an affected private building notice.

“In addition, every owner of a building with an identified cladding fire risk (as a result of the checklist process) now possesses a report from a registered professional engineer of Queensland fire engineer containing advice about that risk and further steps to address the risk so that the buildings are safe to occupy.”