Taskforce to assess thousands of buildings after finding 950 in need of investigation or rectification following Grenfell disaster

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Flammable cladding blamed for London’s Grenfell Tower fire may have been used on as many as 12,000 buildings in Queensland, a taskforce has found.

A year-long inquiry has found 880 buildings require further investigation and at least 70 need rectification work.

The taskforce was set up by the state government after the 2017 Grenfell disaster – when 71 people, including two Australians, died – to assess how many buildings carry the aluminium composite panels. It is understood the taskforce is preparing to assess an additional 12,000 privately owned buildings, including about 1,200 residential structures.

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The state’s housing and public works minister, Mick de Brenni, has told the ABC that while it would cost millions to complete rectifications, the government could not put a price on safety. “If there are private buildings that are found to be a risk through this process, then we are prepared to legislate to require rectification if necessary,” he said.

The taskforce’s report says there “may be as many as 12,000 buildings across the state built since the introduction of ACP into Queensland that will need assessment by the building owner, private certifier or other building professional”.

While private owners would be asked to remove the cladding, de Brenni said the government could increase its powers to ensure safety measures were enforced.

Grenfell review will not call for ban on combustible cladding Read more

The report was prepared by former MP Terry Mackenroth, who died last month, and is expected to be tabled in state parliament by the Labor government on Thursday.

An earlier audit found that about 1,400 non-government buildings in Victoria were likely to have aluminium composite panels with a polyethylene core or expanded polystyrene panels.

The federal government has rejected a ban on imports of combustible aluminium composite cladding, as well as the compromise put up by several states for a moratorium on the importation of the most combustible kind – those with a polyethylene core.