This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
BUILDER LU Simon has escaped the bulk of the nearly-$5.75 million penalty handed down by VCAT for the cladding-fuelled fire at the Lacrosse apartment tower in Melbourne’s Docklands in November 2014.
Architects Elenberg Fraser, surveyors Gardner Group and fire engineer Thomas Nicolas will bear the brunt of the costs that will go to apartment owners.
French backpacker Jean-Francois Gubitta, whose cigarette left on a balcony caused the fire, was found responsible for 3% of costs, but no order was made and his share will be paid LU Simon.
Judge Ted Woodward ordered Thomas Nicholas to pay 39% of the damages; Gardner Group 33% and Elenberg Fraser 25%.
Judge Woodward concluded Elenberg Fraser had failed to remedy “defects in its design”, specifically those that allowed “extensive use” of aluminium composite panels on the east and west of the building, while Gardner Group approved the cladding – deemed to not comply with the Building Code of Australia – and failed to exercise due care when issuing the building permit in 2011, and Thomas Nicholas did not recognise nor warn the cladding was non-compliant.
Following the recent Neo200 blaze on Melboune’s Spencer Street, which has also been attributed largely to the combustible cladding on the building’s façade, Judge Woodward noted that his reasoning in the Lacrosse case “should not be read as commentary generally on the safety or otherwise of ACPs and their uses”.
“Many of my findings have been informed by the particular contracts between the parties in this case and by events occurring in the course of the Lacrosse project that may or may not be duplicated in other building projects.”
The 40-storey Neo 200 was one of the 2,000-plus buildings inspected by the Victorian Cladding Taskforce and declared “moderate risk”.
Taskforce chair Ted Baillieu said around 360 buildings are deemed high risk.
Residents at Lacrosse have sought a combined $12.7 million in compensation, of which nearly $7 million remains in negotiation.
While there were no fatalities in either of the Melbourne fires, together with the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London in 2017 the incidents have put a spotlight on the widespread use of ACPs in constructing numerous buildings across Australia, as well as the country’s building standards.
Australian Property Journal
