Removing and replacing combustible cladding in an average high-rise building would be a logistical nightmare, and could cost millions of dollars, according to industry experts.

Victoria's building regulator has announced every high-rise built in Melbourne's CBD and inner suburbs in the past decade will be inspected for cheap, imported non-compliant cladding found to be flammable.

Firefighters at the scene of the Lacrosse building fire last November. Credit:Wayne Taylor

The Victorian Building Association's audit of 170 buildings follows recent findings that non-compliant aluminium cladding imported from China fuelled the rapid spread of a major fire in a Lacrosse tower in Docklands last year.

But removing and replacing flammable cladding could be an expensive and lengthy process that would pose a number of significant challenges for engineers.