This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE ACT government’s Private Cladding Scheme has been welcomed by the industry although there concerns for three major areas of the program.
Following the announcement of the Private Building Classing Scheme by minister for sustainable building and construction, Rebecca Vasserotti, the Strata Community Association (SCA) has taken issue with three crucial elements of the plan.
The scheme, which will see 50% of the cost of testing apartment buildings for combustible cladding, along with concessional loans for those proven to have at risk buildings, is according to SCA coming up short, with rebates for testing capped at $20,000.
“The first place that this has pulled up a little short of industry expectations is that the cap for testing reimbursement is only $20,000 and only available as a rebate. This type of building analysis and consultation is not cheap; it adds up very quickly and often owners corporations do not have the means to stump up the cash up front,” said Shelley Mulherin, ACT president of the SCA.
While the SCA are pleased the state government has listened to the strata sector, after falling behind other states and territories, they have described a scheme of this nature as the “bare minimum”.
“The second point is that retrospectivity has not been addressed. Without it, the government is effectively punishing those owners corporations who have been proactive already and gone out and paid to have their building testing for combustible cladding prior to today’s announcement.
The associations final concern is that the scheme does nothing towards the issue of insurance for buildings that have been identified as having flammable cladding.
“Insurers in the ACT are extremely reticent to insure buildings where flammable cladding has been identified. What do owners corporations do once they have used the government finance for testing, identified an issue, disclosed to their insurance and had their insurance revoked or invalidated?”
SCA will work closely with the ACT government on the program in the coming months and through its rollout, looking to overcome these shortcomings.
“The government needs to immediately and urgently engage with the insurance industry to tackle this very serious issue,” concluded Mulherin.
