Architects call for tighter rules after estimates up to 12,000 decks at risk of collapse

Updated

Up to 12,000 balconies and decks across Australia could be at risk of potentially deadly collapse, architects say.

The Australian Institute of Architects has released its most recent estimates of at-risk decks.

It comes after a baby died on the Central Coast of New South Wales last month when a balustrade gave way.

Archicentre, which is a not-for-profit subsidiary of the institute, generated the figure of 12,000 based on its nationwide inspections.

An ABC investigation has found there is no system for mandatory inspections of decks across Australia and rules vary from state to state.

The ACT is the only place where homeowners must have a building inspection before putting their house up for sale and must give a copy to the buyer.

Some states have mandatory disclosure laws so that if an inspection is done, it must be handed over, while others have no regulations at all.

Baby fell when father's foot went through verandah

In Queensland, 13 coronial recommendations from 2012 to improve deck safety have yet to be acted on.

The recommendations followed the death of seven-week-old Isabella Diefenbach in Yeppoon in 2010.

Her father Adam was nursing the baby girl when his foot went through a rotten verandah board of the family’s rental property and he lost hold of her.

Isabella fell two metres from the verandah onto mosaic tile steps below and died of massive head injuries.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the accident, the couple said they were distraught to hear of another family experiencing a similar tragedy.

"I can remember when I heard I was just in shock. I can't believe it happened again," Isabella's mother Jennie Diefenbach said.

"Especially for all we went through with the inquest and for it to happen again and nothing's changed. It's just ridiculous."

Gino Andrieri from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers is representing the Diefenbach family.

"The reality is that any wooden structure - deck, balcony, veranda over 10 years of age - and particularly in coastal areas, is at risk," he said.

"It's a hidden trap because from the outside there are no significant visual indicators of the danger."

Archicentre Queensland manager Ian Agnew said the time had come for tighter rules and regulations.

"We've seen whole decks collapse, with whole parties out on the deck and lots of people injured in a very bad way,'' he said.

"I don't know how many times it needs to happen before someone sits up and takes notice.''

I can remember when I heard I was just in shock. I can't believe it happened again. Jennie Diefenbach

The Queensland coronial recommendations in relation to deck safety include:

A system of mandatory inspections of decks, verandas and balconies.

For wood rot and termite activity to be considered an emergency repair.

Real estate agents to record and act on complaints

Call for maximum load rating on balconies

Housing Minister Tim Mander said the Department of Housing was still considering the recommendations and the Government would officially respond to the coroner's report later this year.

Professor Roy Kimble is the director of paediatric trauma at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane.

He has treated children involved in falls and deck collapses who have sustained shattered limbs, fractured skulls and been impaled by splintered timber.

Professor Kimble would like to see decks and balconies given a maximum load rating.

"You go to a national park viewing deck and there will be a plaque saying 'maximum number of people' who should be on that deck,'' he said.

"If you get in an elevator then there'll be a maximum number of people who can go in."

Victim still haunted by deck collapse

Robyn Crawford is one of the few who know the trauma and tragedy of a deck collapse.

The Nowra business owner was hosting a 30th birthday party for a friend in October last year when her deck collapsed, injuring 24 people.

One woman was flown to hospital with severe facial injuries and others suffered broken bones, cuts and severe bruising.

The accident could have been worse - guests were standing under the steel and timber deck minutes before it collapsed.

"Everyone came upstairs so we could cut the birthday cake," Ms Crawford said.

"We were all watching, she was about to cut the cake and there was this massive bang.

"It fell away from this side first, then the whole thing dropped to the ground."

Ms Crawford was knocked unconscious and woke up when emergency services arrived.

"It was just craziness, it was like a warzone, it was just people yelling and screaming."

She is still haunted by the accident.

Ms Crawford had the required inspections when she bought the property.

"There's no way I could have known the deck was faulty," she said.

"Something needs to be done, no-one else should go through this."

She is not the only one affected, with partygoers who were on the deck still traumatised by events.

"A lot of people are getting counselling for it," she said.

"Even people who weren't on the deck. It's just something you never get over."

Do you know more? investigations@abc.net.au

Topics: accidents---other, brisbane-4000, nowra-2541

First posted