St Kilda apartment building evacuation order over high risk cladding ‘avoidable’

The emergency evacuation of bayside apartments that left dozens of stressed tenants on the brink of homelessness could have been avoided, experts say.

The emergency evacuation order of a bayside apartment building that left dozens of tenants on the brink of homelessness could have been avoided if authorities contacted experts earlier.

The St Kilda apartment block was branded “uninhabitable” last week due to the building’s highly flammable cladding, with residents ordered to leave their homes by May 21.

The evacuation order was cancelled on Tuesday after an agreement was reached between Port Phillip Council and the owners’ corporation for emergency works to remediate the building and make it safe.

The works started first thing on Tuesday morning and once completed will allow the residents to stay living in the building.

But the fire engineering expert who came up with the plan to make the building safe told NCA NewsWire the evacuation order could have been avoided altogether if he had been engaged sooner.

Basic Expert managing director Jonathan Barnett said when it was clear help was needed, Cladding Safety Victoria advised the owners’ corporation to contact his firm. But that was a week from when the order was issued on May 7.

The original emergency evacuation order issued by Port Phillip Council for a St Kilda apartment building due to ‘undue risk of fire’ from combustible cladding. Picture: Supplied

He said if he had been contacted straight away, or even before the order was issued, an alternative solution could have been found without putting the residents through the stress of being evacuated.

“I just wish someone would have contacted me a week earlier,” Dr Barnett said.

“The problem was the advisory reference panel told the council municipal building surveyor he had to immediately have the building evacuated.

“He was convinced by the advisory reference panel there was no alternative – obviously there was an alternative.”

The building is located in the bayside suburb of St Kilda. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Dr Barnett and his team were contacted at 4.30pm on Friday, May 14, and by Monday morning they had drafted a plan to remediate the building.

The emergency works include creating a second emergency exit and removing a strip of the cladding along the side of the building.

An enhanced alarm and detection system and new fire extinguishers are also being installed, along with a new management plan that includes eliminating barbecues from balconies, moving vehicles out of the carpark and evacuation drills for occupants.

Tenants who are renting apartments in the building have told NCA NewsWire they still plan to move out due to the stress of the situation and the risk posed by the cladding that will remain on the building even after the emergency remediation works.

The now cancelled emergency evacuation order issued by Port Phillip Council for a St Kilda apartment building. Picture: Supplied

The Neo 200 apartment fire in Melbourne’s Spencer Street was spread by cladding similar to that used in the Grenfell Tower blaze.

Dr Barnett said the council and CSV had been very “consumer focused” and worked with the owners’ corporation to make sure the building was safe to live in.

“The Victorian Building Authority has been very difficult to work with and have been focused on regulation and not safety as an outcome,” he said.

“The VBA process is flawed as they mischaracterise the risk in buildings and don’t work with councils and owners to find cost-effective safe solutions to building defects.”

A VBA spokesman said there was nothing more important than keeping people safe, but the council was responsible for the apartment block.

The VBA’s statewide cladding audit inspected the building in April and referred it to the independent advisory reference panel who assigned a risk rating.

The St Kilda complex is the third property to have been issued an evacuation order in Victoria due to combustible cladding.

Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford said given the “serious nature of the compliance defects” raised by the advisory panel and the immediate risk to residents from the information available at the time, the evacuation order was issued.

“There was no indication that a mitigation plan would either be possible or able to be implemented to enable the residents to safely remain living in the building,” she said.

“The replacement emergency order will allow residents to remain in their homes, if they choose to stay, while the owners’ corporation completes the cladding rectification program with CSV.

“This has been a very difficult time for the building’s residents and owners … safety must always come first, so we are pleased the works will mitigate significant safety issues.”

[e-mail]