Deadline looms for registration of buildings with combustible cladding

New laws requiring building owners to register buildings with external combustible cladding start to bite on 22 February 2019, which is the first of the deadlines for owners to register buildings, for buildings which were occupied before 22 October 2018.

For more information about the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Identification of Buildings with Combustible Cladding) Regulation 2018 (Regulation), please see our earlier edition, which can be viewed here.

The Regulation applies to the following building types:

  • buildings containing two or more sole-occupancy units each being a separate dwelling, such as residential apartment buildings (class 2 building in the Building Code Australia)
  • residential buildings, which is a common place of long term or transient living for a number of unrelated persons, such as hotels and boarding houses (class 3 building in the Building Code Australia)
  • health care buildings, including those parts of the building set aside as laboratories and any associated single dwellings within the building (class 4 and 9a of the Building Code Australia)
  • assembly buildings, including a trade workshop, laboratory or the like, in a primary or secondary school and any associated single dwellings within the building (class 4 and 9b of the Building Code Australia)
  • aged care buildings and any associated single dwellings within the building (class 4 and 9c of the Building Code Australia).

Owners of such buildings which are two or more storeys should act now to register their building through the NSW Cladding Registration portal if the building has:

  • any cladding or cladding system comprising metal composite panels, including aluminium, zinc and copper, that is applied to any of the building's external walls or to any other external area of the building
  • any insulated cladding system, including a system comprising polystyrene, polyurethane or polyisocyanurate, that is applied to any of the building's external walls or to any other external area of the building.

Owners of buildings occupied after 22 October 2018 will be required to register their building within four months of the building first being occupied. 

The penalty for non-compliance is $1,500 for an individual and $3,000 for corporations.

This publication does not deal with every important topic or change in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you have found this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances please contact one of the named individuals listed.