Strata Community Association NSW calls for $1 billion to fix cladding

Apartment owners face crippling costs to replace flammable cladding, which has been identified in at least 650 complexes across NSW. The state’s peak strata body says $1 billion is needed to resolve the “crisis”.

• Revealed: Hundreds of Sydney buildings on cladding register

NSW apartment owners are being quoted as much as $80,000 per unit to replace flammable cladding, with the state’s peak strata body saying $1 billion is needed to resolve the “crisis”.

Sydney building specialist company CJ Duncan has been carrying out an increasing number of remedial cladding works on residential buildings in areas such as the CBD, Alexandria and eastern suburbs.

Executive general manager Sinclair Taylor said quoting $60,000 per unit was “not unheard of for a lot of residential properties” because apartments are often in high-rise buildings, which makes accessing them difficult and dangerous.

However he said the cost could be significantly higher with the company recently quoting $80,000 to fix cladding on an 18-unit apartment complex in Bondi, bringing the total to almost $1.5 million.

“The difficulty is the cost of accessing the cladding. The traditional form is through scaffolding, either fixed or mobile scaffolding, or using a scissor lift, but getting to the cladding safely is probably the biggest challenge,” he said.

NSW president of the Strata Community Association Chris Duggan says $1 billion will be needed to fix issues in NSW. Picture: AAP

The state’s peak strata body has called on the NSW government to provide the $1 billion to fix cladding on apartment buildings across the state, with 650 complexes identified as being at risk of fire.

Strata Community Association NSW President Chris Duggan says Premier Gladys Berejiklian should at least match the Victorian government’s pledge to invest $600 million in fixing 500 private buildings at the “highest” risk of fire.

Building ministers have today gathered in Sydney for a crucial meeting to discuss reforms to the industry as concerns mount over flammable cladding and building defects that have seen three Sydney apartment complexes evacuated in just over six months.

Mr Duggan said the 650 NSW buildings identified as having cladding issues was “potentially an under-inflated number” because reporting is voluntary.
He said it would cost about $1 million to replace cladding on each apartment building.

“‘We’ve got systemic crisis at the moment occurring across NSW with defects, cladding and issues that are all stacked against consumers,” he said.

Mascot Tower residents were forced to leave. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts

Opal Tower was the first building to experience big issues. Picture: Angelo Velardo

“We think $1 billion is a more appropriate figure. We’ve had 650 buildings who have self-assessed and registered on a register with the NSW state government so that’s 650 buildings which will require immediate or near-term funding to rectify the cladding alone.”

Mr Dugan said it was a “terribly devastating time for lot owners” in the wake of building defects sparking evacuations at Mascot Towers, Opal Tower and an apartment building in Zetland.

“They’re fighting a system that’s stacked against them, they’re fighting with their hands tied behind their backs,” he said.

The issue of flammable cladding first became apparent after the deadly Grenfell Tower fire in the UK. Picture: Natalie Oxford

Mr Duggan said many would be forced to dive into their mortgages or sell their properties if the NSW government didn’t support the loan package.

“The buck needs to stop at the first thing with Gladys,” he said.

“This is a NSW issue — these are NSW-centric problems. These are buildings within her state so whether she needs to leverage the federal government,” he said.

Federal industry minister Karen Andrews said building ministers had brokered an agreement to fund a taskforce to implement recommendations from a recent report which identified serious failures in the construction industry.