Cladding: It’s your money that the governments are burning
There was another cladding fire in Melbourne the other day. It was one of those “accidents waiting to happen” we’ve been hearing about since the horror Grenfell Tower blaze in…
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Small fire, not many dead: Ignorance and racism in Neo200 debate
On Wednesday morning I woke up to read a somewhat hysterical story in the Sydney Morning Herald about the latest apartment block fire in Melbourne. Not only was I appalled…
Blocks get together to fight crippling cladding bills
Apartment owners facing bills of as much as $60,000 per unit to fix flammable cladding are being invited to join together in an effort to force developers to foot the…
Over 400 blocks identified with high-risk cladding in NSW
A total of 435 high-rise buildings at “potentially high risk” from flammable cladding fires, have been identified by the NSW state government and Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), according to…
Roundup: No deaths in new Dubai cladding fire
Another fire in a flammable aluminium clad building in Dubai reminds us that our politicians are still running around trying to look busy while ignoring the simple facts. The latest…
Strata owners fear insurance bills as much as cladding fires
By Sue Williams Apartment owners whose buildings are covered with inflammable cladding are living in as much fear of insurance hikes as they are of fires, says a leading strata…
Fire safety questions have a surprisingly simple answer
Last week we looked at fire ordinances and old apartment blocks, but recent headlines have mostly been about shiny new buildings and the flammable cladding that makes them look so…
How not to get your fingers burned over fire safety
Considering how few fatalities there are in apartment fires, the dangers from unit block blazes do seem to occupy a lot of bureaucratic brain space. On the other hand, it…
Time to chuck another Aussie tradition on the barbie
Here’s a question for everyone who is getting their teeshirts in a twist over flammable cladding: Would you give up having barbecues on your balconies if it meant you didn’t…
Roundup: Legal action launched over Bankstown fire tragedy
The family of the student who died in the Bankstown fire five years ago, as well as the surviving victim, are suing everybody and anybody who may have contributed to…
Flammable cladding the ‘asbestos of 2017’ says fire safety expert
Future owners of new apartments will be protected from buying into potentially unsafe buildings with Federal and State government agreement last week to place a moratorium on the use of…
Flammable cladding report makes chilling viewing
Did you see Four Corners on the ABC this week? It was all about the dangers of inflammable cladding and how they’ve been around for two decades. You will be…
Roundup: Guess who pays when new cladding task force finds blocks at risk
There we were, sitting down to compose our submissions on holiday letting (again!), when the State government announced its proposals for dealing with inflammable cladding on high-rise blocks. The same…
Barbie and smoking bans could cut crippling cladding costs
Bans on smoking and removing barbecues from balconies could be a low-cost option for apartment owners as the State government plans to force buildings with inflammable cladding to own up…
High-rise fire task force could cost us millions
NSW apartment owners could face bills for millions of dollars if the government launches a task force to identify buildings with potentially fatal aluminium cladding. But NSW high-rise builders responsible…
Roundup: Who pays when they find danger cladding on your block?
The powers that be in the state government aren’t saying much but the plan for a high-rise fire safety task force leaked to the media this weekend is very…
Alarm as Fireys levy sparks strata fears
A wave of panic has run through StrataLand in the past couple of weeks – hardly a tsunami but more than a ripple – with the news that the Fire…
Time running out for balcony barbecues
The new NSW legislation due to come in mid-year doesn’t specifically ban balcony barbecues – or even barbecue smoke – but it does make it a lot easier for those…