The tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire in London has left some burning questions for authorities across the globe.
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The alarm bell was raised last month as Sydney Morning Herald revealed the NSW government says it does not know how many buildings are clad in the material blamed for the recent London residential inferno.
A fire safety authority warned the cladding is slipping past the state's building inspection regime.
The South Coast Register asked Shoalhaven City Council what measures are in place to ensure newly-constructed buildings, such as the Vincentia Shopping Centre, are as fire safe as possible.
Compliance manager Colin Wood said the issue’s on council’s agenda.
“Following the Docklands Apartment fire in Melbourne in 2014, council completed an audit of buildings in 2015 to determine the combustibility of external cladding materials,” he said.
“Council has discussed re-opening this investigation.”
Council has also considered heavier checks for new buildings.
“The National Construction Code assessment process for new buildings stipulates the applicant must provide details of the materials being used; including their fire performance,” Mr Wood said.
“This information is then assessed by the accredited certifier before a construction certificate is issued.
“The accredited certifier can be a private certifier or a council certifier.
“Council is looking into providing additional resources to its Fire Safety assessment team to assist with the audit on buildings that have been built more recently.”
At this stage, there is no federal or state funding available for these audits.
Council has also been following the Senate Economics Reference Committee Inquiry into non-conforming building products held on July 19.
This third inquiry was focused on the use of external cladding.