Melbourne apartment fire sparks industry audit

The recent Lacrosse Apartment building fire in Melbourne’s Docklands has highlighted the issue of using non-complying external cladding materials, as outlined in findings provided by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB).

A review has found that the rapid spread of fire through the apartment tower last November was caused in part by combustible construction materials, sparking an investigation into building practices and paving the way for an expensive class action. The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) is now auditing building practitioners who have worked on around 170 multi-storey buildings in and around the Melbourne CBD. The VBA has written to building surveyors, requesting copies of records associated with building projects to ascertain the extent to which it’s possible that non-compliant cladding has been installed. Separate to this process, the MFB has referred the Lacrosse Building fire to the State Coroner for further investigation under its own statutory powers.

It is expected this audit review will be adopted across Australia by the various state and territory statutory bodies.

From a technical perspective, Philip Chun advises all designers, practitioners, builders and others involved in the design, selection and procurement of external cladding materials or external linings to seek advice from their relevant building surveyor/certifier, to ascertain the suitability of the products proposed. It’s important to ensure any product selection can be provided with the appropriate and genuine compliance test reports or other supporting documentation (over and above any brochure or web page download). Only products that demonstrate documented compliance with the provisions of BCA Part A2 should be selected.

It’s also important to note that there is a clear distinction between a cladding material that is forming an external wall and one that is used as an attachment to a building facade such as a lining, finish or similar fixing over an underlying wall system. External wall cladding material has a specific non-combustability requirement when installed in Type A and Type B buildings, whereas a material that is an attachment to a wall has a separate fire index rating. This material also has limitations on where it can be placed in relation to the buildings’ exits and that it must not otherwise constitute an undue risk of fire spread via the facade.

Importance of visitable and adaptable housing

Australia has an ageing population, which has increasing levels of disability and longer life spans. With this ageing population, there is a growing preference for ageing at home, rather than moving into institutions. These community changes highlight the importance of considering the aged and those with disabilities in the construction of new housing to avoid future obsolescence and unnecessary waste of resources.

Most of our housing is now required by the Building Code of Australia (BCA) to provide wheelchair access from the street into the foyers and to the entrance doors of residences. However, the BCA does not currently have accessibility requirements within residences.

To address our changing needs within residences, the concepts of ‘visitability’ and ‘adaptability’ were introduced by AS4299 in 1995. A residence that is ‘visitable’ allows a wheelchair visitor to enter and get to the living area and a toilet. As a further step, an ‘adaptable’ residence is designed so that the residence can be easily modified to become accessible to occupants with disabilities.

While only a small proportion of residences are adapted, Philip Chun's Access team considers the benefits of ‘visitability’ to be widely beneficial and we actively promote incorporation of this approach. Inherent and inclusive accessibility within buildings is also a key aspect to the broadly promoted ‘universal design’ concept.

Philip Chun is a supporter of the Australian Network for Universal Housing Design, a national network of housing industry bodies, housing professionals, government professionals, designers, builders, researchers and home occupants who believe that the homes we build for today’s Australia should be fit for all of tomorrow’s Australians.

For more information, go to: http://www.anuhd.org/

Fire tests demonstrate importance of regulation

Our Essential Services team recently attended a fire open day for the construction industry, where we saw first-hand live fire tests that showcased the differences between fire rated and non-fire rated products.

The Australian-first event, coordinated by Exova, conducted more than $50,000 worth of fire tests including:

• a full-scale fire wall and fire door test running side by side with a non-fire wall and non-fire rated door;
• a fire cable tray and cable test, with approved fire cables and non-fire rated cabling;
• a full-scale bushfire test which highlighted a BAL 29 and a BAL 40 rating;
• an endurance test in a -15oC freezer and a +55oC oven; and
• a full-scale room burn (until flash over) test.

Some of the standards demonstrated included AS1530.4, AS ISO 9705, AS5007 and AS3013.

Needless to say, following the live fire tests, we were all reminded of the importance of fire and smoke regulations and standards.

Philip Chun projects