Face of Nation : Building standards in NSW will be put under the microscope during a parliamentary inquiry, which comes on the heels of the Mascot and Opal Towers disasters.
Greens MP David Shoebridge, Labor MP John Graham and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers leader Robert Borsak successfully moved for an inquiry into the issue in the upper house on Thursday.
It comes weeks after residents of Sydney’s Mascot Towers were left homeless when their building was evacuated on June 14 over cracking in its primary support structure and facade masonry.
The evacuation occurred six months after residents of Opal Tower, in Sydney’s Olympic Park, was similarly evacuated after cracks sparked fears the building could collapse.
“We want to see the public’s submissions on this because some politicians think it’s just Mascot and Opal Towers, but there are hundreds of thousands of these across the state,” Mr Shoebridge told AAP on Thursday.
“This is a chance for people to speak directly to politicians and set out the scale of the problem.” The committee will look at the role of private certification in protecting building standards, the adequacy of consumer protections for owners of new buildings, limitations on insurance and compensation schemes. Mr Shoebridge said the committee had been “deeply concerned” by the forced evacuation of residents from the two Sydney Towers.
“With an increase of high rise apartments, particularly in the Sydney region, it is extremely important that the NSW Government has adequate regulation and oversight of the building industry, including appropriate consumer protection, and are responding to building defects in a timely and effective manner,” he said in a statement.
Also coming under the microscope will be instances of flammable cladding use on NSW buildings.
Flammable cladding shot onto the world’s radar in 2017 following the Grenfell Tower disaster in West London that killed 72 people after fire spread rapidly through the building, due in part to the common type of cladding used in construction.
The inquiry will hold hearings in August and is requesting submission from the public be made by July 28.
