The NSW Government’s framework to address high-risk combustible cladding remains a live issue plagued by confusion around the application of the product ban on combustible Aluminium Composite Panels (ACPs).

The NSW Auditor General’s recent report found that uncertainty persists around compliance and how councils have interpreted the product ban. This has resulted in costly and potentially avoidable wholesale replacement of external cladding on some buildings.

Combustible cladding policy exclusions, which are now “standard form”, mean owners’ corporations often bear the cost of replacing non-compliant ACPs. This has resulted in numerous litigation actions.

Property, Energy + Infrastructure specialists Ryan Owens, Vahini Chetty and Wes Rose look at this evolving issue and a potentially more workable rectification solution in this update.