A long wait for flammable cladding to be removed from high-risk buildings

The NSW government has set a timeline of three years to remove flammable and potentially dangerous cladding on high-rise buildings.

Residents of buildings deemed to contain unsafe flammable cladding could wait three years before the potentially deadly combustible material is replaced as part of a state government scheme.

Almost four years since London’s deadly Grenfell Tower blaze, the NSW government’s Project Remediate will begin to remove the first unsafe cladding from buildings late this year. Better Regulation Minister Kevin Anderson on Monday announced the Cladding Product Safety Panel had finally determined which materials are safe options to replace combustible cladding. Building owners had previously been subject to uncertainty over whether their chosen replacement products would be up to scratch.

The 2017 fire at London’s Grenfell tower was caused by flammable cladding. Picture: Natalie Oxford/AFP

Project Remediate was designed to fast-track the removal of flammable cladding on buildings in NSW, but Mr Anderson yesterday could not say how many of the 214 high-risk residential buildings would be fixed by the end of 2021. “The target that we’ve set is three years, that’s how long Project Remediate is planned for,” he said.

“In July, the, the technical detail and design will be done, and we’ll be looking to start that first building by the end of the year.”

Cladding Product Safety Panel chair Mark Hoffman said a “very low risk approach” had been taken for the first products deemed safe replacements. More are set to be added in the future.

Almost four years after the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in West London, Mr Anderson said the timeline of work on combustible cladding was “methodical” and “strategic”.

One Central Park at Chipendale has been named as having flammable cladding. Picture: Craig Wilson

“This is a very big job,” he said.

The government has not publicly released details about which residential buildings have been identified as having flammable cladding. However, the list includes prominent buildings in Sydney like the One Central Park shopping centre and apartment tower.

A number of government buildings have already had high-risk cladding replaced.

Upper house Labor MP Courtney Houssos said the announcement “continues the glacial pace of the NSW Liberals’ and Nationals’ response on flammable cladding”.

“This is just a wasted four years by the (Coalition), continuing to put homeowners at risk,” she said. The government has established a $139 million fund to pay for teams working on the project.