Remove cladding before someone dies, says Michael O’Brien

A year after promising a state inspector to deal with the deadly flammable cladding issue, Victoria still hasn’t appointed one.

Fire in the Neo200 building. Picture: Twitter

Victoria’s planning minister has conceded that he is yet to appoint a state building inspector despite promising to do so more than a year ago as part of the Andrews government’s measures to address deadly flammable cladding.

The admission came during Question Time today, following Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien’s statements this morning that the Andrews government needs to expedite the removal of flammable cladding “before somebody dies” in the wake of yesterday’s blaze in a Melbourne CBD apartment tower.

On December 1, 2017, Planning Minister Richard Wynne issued a press release stating that: “to take action on cladding the government will appoint a state building inspector, a leading expert to provide the very best technical knowledge.”

Opposition planning spokesman Tim Smith used Question Time this afternoon to ask when Mr Wynne had appointed an inspector and whether he could name the person.

“We have been involved in very extensive negotiations, not only around the question of a new building inspector, but the (Victorian Building Authority) of course have been actively engaged in addressing the very significant issues that pertain to cladding more generally,” Mr Wynne told parliament.

Mr Smith interjected on a point of order.

“The Minister’s had 14 months to appoint this inspector. Can he just be honest with the house and say he hasn’t done it yet?” Mr Smith said.

Mr Wynne said he could assure Mr Smith that the VBA was “actively considering” the appointment. “When we have resolved that question, I will advise the member accordingly,” Mr Wynne said

Earlier today, Mr O’Brien said people deserved to know if they are living in a fire trap.

“There are so many people who just don’t know if they’re living in a building which is potentially a fire trap, and that is not the right thing,” Mr O’Brien said.

“If the government knows what buildings are at risk, why shouldn’t tenants or prospective tenants also have that information?

“I think it’s quite risky for the government to be holding onto this information which is about the safety of buildings and not sharing it with the people who live there, the people who might be living there.”

Mr O’Brien spoke after it emerged Victoria’s building authority has not notified the residents of the 60 buildings it has deemed “highest risk” due to deadly flammable cladding, and the state government has declined to publicly name the buildings out of fears it would encourage arson ­attempts.

Asked whether penalties needed to be introduced to encourage builders, owners and insurers to replace the cladding rather than engaging in lengthy legal proceedings over who should pay, Mr O’Brien accused the government of buck-passing.

“Builders don’t want to pay, owners don’t want to pay, insurers don’t want to pay,” he said.

“I think there’s a role for government to sit down, bang some heads together and get this fixed before somebody dies.”

Cladding safety fund dismissed

Meanwhile, Premier Andrews dismissed a proposal by Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam to set up a $50 million cladding safety fund which would enable owners of apartments with dangerous cladding to get it replaced immediately at taxpayers’ expense, with

the onus then on the state government recoup the cost from builders through legal avenues.

“The Green political party are very good at spending money,” Mr Andrews said.

“The most important thing to do is to listen to the advice provided by the bipartisan inquiry into these very serious issues, not just issue in Victoria, I might add.

“These are global issues and … we are far more advanced in dealing with this challenge than many other countries around the world.”

Mr Andrews praised former Liberal premier Ted Baillieu and Labor deputy premier John Thwaites for their work on his government’s cladding taskforce.

“There’s a bit of commentary today about tenants and residents in buildings being informed about cladding, well that’s actually a feature of the recommendations provided by Ted Baillieu and John Thwaites. It’s important for people who are running a commentary on these matters to have actually read the report.”

He denied that red tape and legal bun fights were putting public safety at risk.

“People do have a right to go to the courts and to deal with these matters in that way,” he said.

“We have an open mind though: if the building authority, if other regulators come to us and say that we need to do more … we stand ready to do more.”

Ms Ratnam said the only way of prioritising public safety was to enable apartment owners to immediately replace the cladding at taxpayer expense.

“At the moment, we have a system where individual owners can access a loan, but the loan amounts are so big, up to $60,000 … that residents and owners … are unable to take on that kind of loan, which prevents them from rectifying their building,” she said.

“We’re saying the government should establish a cladding safety fund, make available at least $50 million to start with.

“That would help rectify at least 800 apartments from the outset, and the government then can pursue the legal action to recoup those costs.”

Neo200 fire

The revelation over the state’s building authority comes after hundreds of residents of the Neo200 building at Spencer Street in Melbourne’s CBD were evacuated as fire tore up the building early yesterday. The building was found to have the same cladding as ­London’s deadly Grenfell Tower.

The blaze, which jumped from the 22nd floor to the 27th floor, prompted Victoria’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade to send 15 trucks and 80 firefighters because they were aware of the presence of the cladding, ­although the building wasn’t on the brigade’s enhanced response list.

One man was hospitalised with smoke inhalation and more than 200 evacuated residents were unable to return to their homes.

The MFB on Monday night confirmed a lit cigarette was the most probable cause for the blaze — which they say ignited combustible materials stored on the balcony.

The MFB confirmed the building had the same type of cladding as the Grenfell Tower, but said a combination of factors prevented the fire from causing more damage. “They were fortunate that the sprinkler systems stopped the fire from entering the apartments; firefighters were here within four minutes and intervened rapidly with firefighting hoses, so they were lucky in that sense,” he said.

Fire crews inspect damage to the tower. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Firefighters said “building management” had hampered their response, with some smoke alarms deactivated in an overpopulated building where people didn’t want to be evacuated.

Cladding audit

Victorian authorities conducted an audit of buildings to establish the extent of the risk caused by flammable cladding following the 2014 Lacrosse building fire in Melbourne’s Docklands, where an inferno raced up 13 storeys in 10 minutes.

It brought the issue of deadly flammable cladding to public attention.

Victorian Building Authority chief executive Sue Eddy ­revealed her organisation had worked with owners’ corporations once dangerous buildings had been identified, but said it was up to them to pass information on to tenants.

“We do ask the owners’ corporation to make sure they are informing the residents of that building in relation to the fire safety issues because that’s their responsibility,” she said.

She said none of the buildings had been identified as being so dangerous that evacuation was necessary.

Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne said the list of high-risk buildings would not be made public because of the risk of arson. “We have taken expert ­advice around this, and there are significant security concerns, meaning that there is advice overseas of some of these buildings being targeted,” he said.

Residents flee the blaze. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Ms Eddy said the Neo200 building was identified as “moderate risk”, with a compliance notice issued last year.

“The municipal building surveyor has made a determination that minor works are required and a show-cause notice is required around removal of cladding around the balconies and in some of the walls, so that’s an assessment of the municipal building surveyor,” she said.

Victorian Cladding Taskforce chairman Ted Baillieu said his ­organisation inspected 2000 buildings, including government buildings in Victoria.

“Of those, 1200 have advanced to the full panel stage for recommendation in regard to risk, and of those there are about 360 private buildings that are in the higher risk categories and they are receiving maximum attention from the VBA,” the former Victorian premier said.

More than 200 residents will be unable to return to their homes for at least 48 hours as the Neo200 building is assessed.

Builders LU Simon said it was too early to make any comment on the blaze at the Neo200 building. The company built the Lacrosse building at Docklands and in ­December agreed to replace the cladding.

Additional reporting: Remy Varga