10/8/2015 Combustible 

Cladding Behind Melbourne Apartment Blaze

Combustible Cladding Behind
Melbourne Apartment Blaze
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Victoria’s state building regulator
Contributor: has concluded that the installation
Gordon of sub­par external cladding advertisement
Lane 
Published: 30 played a key role in the spread of a
April 2015
destructive apartment blaze in More
Melbourne last year. Construction
Why Forecast
The  fire  that  tore  vertically  through  the Beyond the End?
21­storey  Apartments  in  Melbourne’s
No related articles.
Docklands  precinct  toward  the  end  of
Having been
November  resulted  in  the  evacuation  of a career
over  500  occupants  as  well  as  damages estimator in
the
worth at least $2 million. commercial
construction...
BUSINESS
Following  a  review  of  the  Metropolitan
Fire  Brigade’s  (MFB)  report  on  the Guide to Green Star
Submissions
incident,  the  Victorian 
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10/8/2015 Combustible Cladding Behind Melbourne Apartment Blaze

incident,  the  Victorian  Building

Authority (VBA) has concluded that non­
No two
compliant  combustible  cladding  was projects are
ever the
instrumental in the spread of the blaze. same, and
the...
Testing conducted by the CSIRO in mid­ GREEN

April  on  behalf  of  MFB  found  that  the

ATO Targets
Alucobest  cladding  material  installed  by Phoenix
building  company  failed  to  comply  with Construction
Companies on Gold
high­rise combustibility requirements. Coast Games Sites

“The  external  cladding  material  on  this

building did not prevent the spread of the Directors of
companies
fire  as  required  by  the  Building  Code  of engaged in
work on
Australia,”  said  MFB  chief  officer  Peter
Rau.

While  BCA  currently  stipulates  that  the

external  walls  of  apartment  buildings  do
not need to be fire­proof if they are non­
load  bearing  and  at  least  three  metres
advertisement
away  from  a  fire  source,  it  nonetheless
requires  that  they  at  least  be  non­
combustible. Recently
Published
An  unextinguished  cigarette  left  on  an
Property
apartment  balcony  was  found  by  the
MFB  to  be  the  initial  cause  of  the  blaze,
igniting  flammable  materials  that  had Research
Finds
been stored on the balcony. Green
Office
The  building’s  external  wall  cladding Buildings
Deliver
subsequently caught fire, causing a blaze Higher
to spread vertically from the sixth floor to ROI
Engineering
the topmost 21st floor.

The  report  highlights  the  importance  of

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The  report  highlights  the  importance  of
building  materials  regulation,  with  the
MFB  calling  for  members  of  industry  to Victoria
Drought
employ  products  that  possess  and  fully Could
Final
satisfy current certificates. Turn On
Desalination
The report is also expected to prompt the Engineering

Docklands  Council  to  issue  notices  to

building  owners  requiring  them  to
Bill
replace  any  potentially  unsafe  external Shorten
cladding. Launches
Infrastructure
Plan
VBA  has  launched  an  investigation  into
both  builder  and  the  building  surveyor, Property

and plans to investigate the usage of non­
compliant  cladding  in  other  locations Average
within the state. Weekly
Rental
“The  VBA  has  begun  contacting  all Rates
Continue
relevant  building  practitioners  and  will to Rise
work  with  them  to  determine  if  non­ Engineering
compliant  building  material  has  been
used  incorrectly  during  the  construction
of  other  buildings  in  Victoria,”  said Big Data
Analytics
Jarrod  Edwards,  VBA  technical  and Pave the
Way to a
regulation director. Sustainable
Building
Published on 30 April 2015

CONTRIBUTED BY:
Gordon Lane
Gordon Lane hails from St. Louis, Missouri, where
he acquired extensive experience as a business
and real estate journalist with local media prior to
moving to Australia. 

With over 15 years working within the property
sector, Gordon works to deliver insightful editorial

relevant to Buildin...
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Anne Paten  says:
May 7, 2015

The cause has been established. Those who will have
to pay have been established – the innocent owners!
The organization responsible has been established,
at least in the minds of those who know the reality of
the 'regulator'.

Imagine the VBA, the negligent authority
responsible for enforcement of regulations being so
negligent. Then imagine the VBA conducting an
investigation into itself. Go a step further and try to
imagine the likelihood of the VBA finding itself
guilty of negligence.

Now try to picture the VBA making any truthful
findings. Then making such public – never before
have either of these happened. The last step would
be recommending severe penalties to the VBA!
Never will happen!
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Never will happen!

This is more than ludicrous. It is pure farce and for
the VBA no doubt very amusing. But for owners and
the public at large, where people's lives are at
serious risk, the VBA's appalling conduct, now for 22
years, is most definitely not a laughing matter.

Phil Morey  says:
May 11, 2015

The real difficulty with these foam filled aluminium
cladding systems is the rationale behind the test
methods for flammability. The resin foams are
designed to self extinguish when the flame source is
removed. However, as can be seen from the
photograph, the flame source was continuous
allowing the façade to act as a chimney and ignite
the whole face. The fact that the aluminium melts at
660 C doesn't help either. The test methods
embodied in the BCA need to be updated to
accommodate the requirements restricting fire
rising vertically up the face of external cladding. The
current methods only really are testing fire from the
outside to the inside of the façade.

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