Class action over flammable cladding

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This was published 5 years ago

Class action over flammable cladding

By Simon Johanson

Thousands of property owners whose buildings were constructed with combustible cladding are being asked to sign up to a class action seeking millions of dollars in compensation.

Listed litigation funder IMF Bentham and law firm William Roberts Lawyers said on Tuesday they would pursue compensation for property owners of residential, commercial and mixed-use buildings that had aluminium composite panel cladding with a polyethylene core.

A fire ripped up the outside of the Lacrosse apartment building in 2014.

A fire ripped up the outside of the Lacrosse apartment building in 2014.Credit: MFB

The use of the hazardous building material spurred the 2014 Lacrosse tower fire in Melbourne’s Docklands and lst year's deadly Grenfell blaze in London.

While nobody died in the Lacrosse inferno, it sent shockwaves through the nation’s construction industry and sparked an ongoing legal nightmare for the building’s apartment owners faced with $24 million in removal and repair costs.

Concerns about aluminium cladding rose dramatically after 74 people died in the Grenfell blaze.

If the class action proceeds, it will be Australia’s third relating to flammable cladding. Two other groups, Adley Burstyner and Roscon Property Services, and Slater and Gordon, are also considering actions.

Affected property owners were invited to register their interest, IMF and William Roberts said.

Removing cladding from affected buildings is an expensive process.

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Lacrosse’s owners sought $24 million in damages in a month-long Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal case against the tower’s builder, LU Simon, which ended in September. A determination is yet to be made in the case.

A state-backed audit found 200 buildings had combustible cladding and 45 were in a high-risk category, but the government and Victorian Building Authority have refused to publicly identify the affected buildings.

The secrecy surrounding the identification of affected buildings is making it harder for banks to lend on apartments and for purchasers to secure properties.

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