While regulators announce their intentions to impose fresh
liabilities on building practitioners, the prospect of litigation
is stalking manufacturers and suppliers of combustible cladding
products.
On 14 February 2019 a class action relating to the supply of
combustible cladding was launched in the Federal Court of Australia
against the manufacturer and supplier of Alucobond ACP under the
Australian Consumer Law (not to be confused with the
unrelated Alucobest product mentioned above). In Victoria,
expressions of interest are being sought for another possible class
action to claim rectification and compensation for losses caused by
the defective cladding.
The impetus for regulatory reform provided by Lacrosse and the
Grenfell Tower fire in the UK has now been further propelled by
recent events. A final report into the damage to the Opal Tower
(see our previous article
here) was released on 19 February 2019 and will be the subject
of a future article.
