Aluminium cladding and fire risk
The 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy in London claimed the lives of 72 people and served to highlight the serious fire risk posed by combustible aluminium cladding, particularly when retrofitted to older buildings.
Investigators believe the Grenfell Tower fire spread rapidly because the external cladding used composite panels containing highly flammable polyethylene, despite the material being banned in the United Kingdom.
As a result of this incident, building regulation in Australia has been subject to scrutiny and all levels of government have been urged to address the use of non-compliant building materials with targeted legislation.
In December 2018, the Senate Economics Reference Committee released its final report into non-conforming building products.
