Auckland has 13 high-rises clad in flammable aluminium panelling

Thursday, 5 April 2018

A large number of buildings in Auckland have aluminium panelling, including some with the same polyethylene-filled panels that clad Grenfell Tower.

There are 13 high-rise buildings in Auckland clad in flammable aluminium panelling, but Auckland Council does not believe there are any 'immediate safety concerns' for the occupants.

Following the Grenfell Tower fire in London last year in which 71 people died, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) asked all councils to do an audit of buildings in their areas to see if any were covered in the same flammable aluminum cladding panels as the the British tower block.

The many fire-safety failures in the Grenfell apartment tower block in London included its flammable aluminium panelling.

On Thursday, Wellington revealed there were 103 buildings with aluminium composite panels (ACPs), but said it found no unsafe buildings.

Auckland Council figures appear to indicate the high-rise building boom in the city of the past two decades has left some high-rises in need of a fire-safety overhaul because they do not comply with the Building Code.

* After London tower fire, Government checks NZ buildings

* London fire causes building industry concerns about cladding

* Two Auckland buildings confirmed as having combustible cladding**

Auckland Council assessed about 215 buildings in the city, and found 13 buildings were clad in polyethylene-filled (PE) aluminium panels similar to those on Grenfell Tower.

The PE panels on the Grenfell Tower contributed to the speed at which the fire spread from floor to floor.

All the 13 buildings identified by Auckland Council are high-rise, over 25 metres in height.

Some are residential, and some are commercial buildings, though the council has not named them.

A further 42 Auckland buildings were found to be clad in less combustible FR, or fire retardant aluminium panels.

And a further 70 buildings under 25 metres in height have ACP panelling, but Auckland Council had not yet determined whether it was PE, or FR aluminium cladding.

The FR panels are said to be the most commonly used type of ACPs in New Zealand, though they are more expensive than the PE panels.

Ian McCormick, general manager for building consents at Auckland Council said: 'All buildings have been assessed by both our fire engineer and the fire engineer we commissioned to support us.'

The 13 buildings had a number of features that mitigated the risk associated with the PE combustible cladding.

In individual cases this included limited use of the PE cladding, and the presence of other fire safety systems.

'Having considered all these factors we are satisfied that there are no immediate safety concerns for the occupants,' McCormick said.

'In each case as part of our review we considered the performance of the cladding product holistically as part of the overall cladding system.'

'In many cases the use of ACP was limited and associated with building features that served to reduce any potential risk, such as sprinkler systems. In each case we have communicated this with building owners or the body corporate.'

Some of the buildings assessed 'may not comply with the current building code', he said.

Work was going on behind the schemes with MBIE to put in place additional guidance to the industry specifically surrounding fire compliance of cladding systems, the council said.

On Wednesday, a leaked report also called into question whether some ACPs on the market complied with the Building Code, but that report is being reviewed as MBIE, which commissioned it, had concerns about its accuracy.