cladding fire safety

Omnii has assembled a dedicated cladding team, specifically to guide clients through the cladding minefield.

With no Federal Government position on the reform of the use of Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP), each state/territory has its own unique and complex legislation.

Omnii’s cladding team leader is an admitted lawyer with six years practicing experience, who’s comprehensive understanding of cladding legislation is paramount to navigating the best pathways toward rectification. Furthermore, a number of our team have completed the highly specialised combustible cladding CPD course at the University of Queensland (UQ).

In addition, Omnii is pre-qualified with the Residential Cladding Rectification Register (RCRR) on behalf of the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.

Our cladding fire engineering services include:

Compliance pathways tailored to client and State Government requirements
Bespoke Insurance cladding assessment reports
Due diligence cladding assessment reports

Omnii assesses each building individually to identify the needs of the client, the extent and impact of the issue, and to address the requirements of the state legislature.

Detailed CFD modelling and analysis is utilised for predicting the spread of fire, enabling building-specific assessment and reporting.

Frequently Asked Questions

A Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment (BFSRA) is a document required by the Queensland Government, to assess the risk of fire spread caused by combustible cladding.

Under Part 4A of the Qld Building regulation 2006, all external cladding deemed to be combustible must be assessed by a registered fire engineer and a BSFRA and Form 35 submitted to the QBCC.

If combustible cladding was identified and reported in your building’s registration on the QBCC website (PART 1), or if a Building Industry Professional (BIP) identified that you have combustible cladding (PART 2), you are required to engage a Registered Fire Engineer to complete a BFSRA and Form 35 (PART 3). You may have also received a letter from the Queensland Government.

We recommend you contact the QBCC as soon as possible, as fines are associated with non-compliance. The deadline to complete the final part of the cladding checklist, 3rd May 2021, has passed. Building owners still have the obligation to complete the Combustible Cladding Checklist as outlined in the Building Regulation 2006. They are required to complete the cladding checklist as soon as possible to avoid penalties and fines up to $22,019.25. The cladding checklist must then be uploaded to the safer buildings website within 5 days of completion. Omnii still provides their engineering services to assist clients in completing the cladding checklist.

Contact Omnii’s dedicated cladding team for a fee proposal. Once you have engaged Omnii, you may register our details on the QBCC website (Deadline 31st October 2019). We will then walk you through the process, attend site and produce the BFSRA and a Form 35.

The deadline for lodgement of your BFSRA to the QBCC is 3 May 2021. You are not required to complete any further steps until being contacted by your Fire Engineer.

You are required to upload your BFSRA and Form 35 to the QBCC website within 5 days of receiving it.

Make yourself familiar with the BFSRA. Where necessary, the document will identify interim Fire Safety measures for you to implement.

Possible Outcome 1: Your building does not represent a cladding fire risk and no immediate risk mitigation measures or building works are identified in the Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment (BFSRA): no further action is required from the building owner and the cladding process is completed.

Possible Outcome 2: Immediate risk mitigation measures are identified in the BFSRA and Form 74: Based on the QBCC guideline Section 4 these measures should be implemented immediately after the BFSRA is received by the building owner.

Possible Outcome 3: Your building represents a cladding fire risk:

An Affected Private Building Notice must be displayed, and a Form 76 must be send to the QBCC as proof.
A copy of the BFSRA must be provided to each lot owner.
Regardless whether combustible cladding was found to contribute to the defeat of one or more aspects of the Building Fire Strategy or further assessment was required to determine this, it is recommended to engage a fire engineer to assess the risk associated with the combustible cladding materials. The assessment will be in the form of a Fire Engineering Brief/Report in discussion with the Building Certifier and the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) Cladding Support Unit (CSU).

The Affected building notice identifies that the building is considered an affected private building with a fire safety risk, as defined by the Building Regulation 2006 Part 4a – Combustible Cladding.

The online cladding registration system is a self-reporting system where applicable owners (or owners agents) of buildings must register their building.

If you answer yes to the following question, you must register your building online.

Is your building 2 storeys or more (above the ground) and one of the following?

An apartment building
Other accommodation for unrelated people (examples include hotels, motels, boarding house, hostel, backpackers [1], residential parts of a school or accommodation buildings for children, the elderly or people with a disability)
An aged care building or healthcare building, hospital, clinic or day surgery
Public assembly building where people may gather for social, theatrical, political, religious or civil purposes (examples include schools, universities, childcare centres, sporting facilities, cinemas, nightclubs, public transport buildings).
Contains either metal composite panels or insulated cladding system on any part of its external walls or another external area of the building. See claddingregistration.nsw.gov.au for more information on metal composite panels or insulated cladding systems, and what they look like.

You must have registered before February 22 2019. For newly completed buildings, the deadline for registration is 4 months after the building is first occupied.

Failure to register may incur fines of $1500 for individuals and $3000 for corporations.

Building owners must still register their buildings even if it is subject to a Fire Safety Order.

The details of the building will be provided to Fire and Rescue New South Wales (FRNSW) and the local council. It is possible that your council or FRNSW may contact you about your building after you register. It is also possible that a Fire Safety Order may be issued to you.

A Fire Safety Order requires a building owner to give reasons to the council as to why they should not take further action e.g. Issue a Building Notice to replace the cladding.

The Council or FRNSW has inspected your building and believe that it does not meet certain building regulations. This includes but is not limited to combustible cladding.

You are required to respond to the order and justify why your building does meet the regulations, within the stipulated time frame. If your order relates to a fire safety matter, including cladding; a registered Fire Engineer can undergo a fire safety review of the building, including any cladding. This review will evaluate your risk and support your response to the order.

The council will issue a Building Notice which requires you to undertake specific rectification works. By responding to the Building Notice, you are able to potentially influence the extent of works required and the time frames for their completion.

A building notice requires a building owner to give reasons to the Council or the VBA as to why they should not take further action eg. Issue a building order to replace the cladding.

The Council or VBA has inspected your building and believe that it does not meet certain building regulations. This includes but is not limited to combustible cladding.

You are required to respond to the Notice to advise how you will be addressing the items contained in the Notice within the stipulated timeframe. If your Notice relates to a fire safety matter, such as the presence of combustible cladding, a registered Fire Safety Engineer can undergo a fire safety review. This review will help you understand the level of risk presented by the matter and how it can be resolved.

Any building owner wishing to keep all or portions of combustible cladding will need to make an application to the Building Appeals Board (BAB). A registered Fire Safety Engineer will be required to compile and submit an assessment to the BAB that demonstrates an acceptable level of safety can be achieved based on the retention of combustible cladding.

The council or VBA will issue a Building Order which requires you to undertake specific rectification works. By responding to the Building Notice, you are able to potentially influence the extent of works required and the timeframes for their completion.

This order requires you to undertake specific rectification works within a certain time frame. If you fail to comply, you may be subject to prosecution and/or fines.