Page 3986 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 20 September 2017
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(d) aluminium composite panels are not prohibited. There is a large variety of panels available for different uses. There are some aluminium cladding products that meet combustibility limitations or performance standards for higher risk buildings and others that do not;
(e) buildings that comply with the NCC provide minimal risk to occupants, and Canberra building standards require a high level of fire safety;
(f) the ACT Governmentâs concerns, initially raised in 2009 and 2010, were about the risks posed from the material being used in a non-compliant way that is not compliant with fire safety standards. The use of the material in other applications does not in, and of itself, pose an undue danger to the building occupants or the public;
(g) the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children is safe and has been recently inspected and tested by the ACT Fire Brigade;
(h) the ACT Government has formed a working group, including representatives from the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, the Emergency Services Agency and Access Canberra, to coordinate work to identify and address buildings that are at a high risk from combustible cladding;
(i) Members of the Assembly have been advised during the 2017 August sittings of the additional precautionary measures taken by ACT Health to proactively ensure appropriate and adequate emergency management protocols at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children;
(j) at the time of construction of the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children:
(i) the design and construction of the building was inspected by the ACT Fire Brigade; and
(ii) the Centenary Hospital received both endorsement of the fire engineering brief by the ACT Fire Brigade as well as a final Certificate of Occupancy and Use;
(k) following an ACT Health desktop audit and subsequent assessment by DeFire in 2017, the aluminium composite panels at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children will be removed as a precautionary measure as soon as practicable;
(l) preliminary planning for remediation works to affected parts of the Centenary Hospital is currently underway, noting the high demand for materials and workforce Australia-wide;
(m) the Senate Economics References Committee report states that there have been 19 fires involving aluminium cladding worldwide, including:
(i) the 2014 Docklands fire in Melbourne that caused fire damage to approximately 140 apartments; and
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