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NSW to act on cladding issue next week

The NSW government is expected to make an announcement on combustible cladding on buildings in the state next week.

2 min read

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Source: AAP


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The NSW government says it will make an announcement next week regarding apartments that could be covered in highly flammable cladding.

The Building Minister's Forum met on Friday to discuss a national strategic response to risks from the non-compliant installation of building products.

The meeting came a fortnight after at least 80 people died in London's Grenfell Tower inferno on June 14.

The apartment building was covered in insulation panels that "failed all safety tests", police said after the blaze.

"Put simply, a Grenfell apartment block would not comply with Australia's National Construction Code," BMF chair and federal Assistant Minister for Industry Craig Laundy said in a statement on Monday.

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"We need to ensure compliance with that code so that such disasters do not occur in Australia."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has asked premiers and chief ministers to urgently audit their high-rise buildings.

When asked what action the NSW government was taking, a spokesman for NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts on Monday told AAP there'd be an announcement on the matter next week.

Sydney's Inner West Council last week said staff were already working to identify buildings that should be checked so "when the state government confirms its high-rise fire safety task force, we will be ready to go".

It's feared up to 2500 buildings in NSW have highly flammable cladding similar to that on Grenfell Tower.


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