Register Your Interest in the Government Program to Remove Combustible Cladding

The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London put combustible cladding on the world’s radar. Here in New South Wales, the state government launched Project Remediate to help the estimated 225 properties remove combustible cladding from their buildings.

The Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson recently announced that 50 strata communities have now registered their interest in the program and hopes that all properties take advantage the initiative – as cladding replacement is more complex than standard maintenance decisions usually handled by strata committees.

“It’s great to see so many lot owners, strata communities and managers have already taken up the offer to be involved in our program, and I’d like to see that number quadruple in the coming weeks,” said Kevin Anderson.

“We’re on track to commence assessment and project design for the first batch of 30 buildings by July this year, with the first cladding removed later this year.”

Project Remediate will provide eligible building owners with interest free loans over a 10-year period with repayments to commence upon completion of the work, and assurance and project management services will provide technical and practical support to owners corporations and strata managing agents.

Once a strata scheme registers their interest in the $139 million voluntary program, they’ll have their building assessed before remediation work commences – so the final go-ahead lies with the strata scheme. If the scheme proceeds, then a managing contractor will guide the owners corporation through the remediation process. At each step, owners will be consulted with all decisions relating to design, scheduling, safety and building access.

“I encourage all those who are eligible to act now and register. Registering will start the process to have your building assessed and a design prepared – there is no obligation or commitment involved by registering,” said Kevin Anderson.

The closing date for registering your interest in Project Remediate is September 2021.

To assist strata committees with determining whether this program is for them or not, the Government have prepared a two-hour online course.  The course covers:

• What’s involved in the program
• The benefits for owners corporations
• How the program will work
• Who’s eligible
• How to participate

As Project Remediate is optional, you may choose to undertake the remediation in consultation with the appropriate consent authority to your building such as the local council. However the government’s program does provide owners corporations with the expert advice to manage the project end-to-end.

If you have any questions on combustible cladding, please contact your Strata Manager at Netstrata.