The Victorian Government has announced a ban on certain cladding products from today, 1 February 2021. This is consistent with the information we relayed in a bulletin a few weeks ago, after government briefings.
 
From today the following external wall cladding products are prohibited from being used by any person in the course of carrying out any building work in connection with buildings of Type A or Type B construction in Victoria:
 

  • Aluminium composite panels (ACPs) with a core of less than 93 per cent inert mineral filler (inert content) by mass in external cladding as part of a wall system; and
  • Expanded polystyrene (EPS) products used in an external insulation and finish (rendered) wall system.

 
The prohibition applies to any application for a building permit submitted from 1 February 2021 as specified in the minister's declaration.
 
The full media release can be read here.
 
More information on cladding safety can be read here. 
 
Over the last 24 hours we have been contacted by media about this and provided the following statement:
 
"This change provides certainty around what cladding products are deemed acceptable as at February 1, but it's important to avoid any further changing of the goalposts, as that's where the confusion for builders comes from.

Prior to this February 1 change, stringent processes had already been put in place to ensure the appropriate use of cladding products.

While this further change may simplify the process for future projects, it should be recognised that builders had abided by the previous changes that have been made to ensure the safety of cladding products."
 
This has been reported in today's papers as follows:
 
State toughens building laws to ban combustible cladding
The Age , Carolyn Webb 1 February 2021 – 12:01am
The state government has changed the Building Act to ban dangerous cladding on new multistorey properties, in the latest clampdown on shonky practices.
 
MBV QUOTES:
Rebecca Casson, CEO of the Master Builders Association of Victoria, said: "This change provides greater certainty around what cladding products are deemed acceptable as at February 1, but it's important to avoid any further changing of the goalposts, as that's where the confusion for builders comes from. "Prior to this February 1 change, stringent processes had already been put in place to ensure the appropriate use of cladding products. While this further change may simplify the process for future projects, it should be recognised that builders had abided by the previous changes that have been made to ensure the safety of cladding products."
 
 
Dangerous cladding now banned from multistorey buildings in Victoria
Herald-Sun, Alanah Frost 1 February 2021 – 12:01am
Dangerous cladding which was responsible for a number of apartment fires in Melbourne's CBD will now be banned from buildings in Victoria.
 
MBV QUOTES:
Rebecca Casson, chief executive of Master Builders Victoria, said safety was paramount and "certainty around what cladding products are deemed acceptable is needed".
She said tight regulations were already in place before Monday's announcement.
"It is vital that state and federal governments work with industry on ways to assess products before they come to market," she said.
 
 
It is also expected that this will be covered on television news tonight, with Rebecca scheduled to appear in a Nine News interview as part of that.