Australian federal government refuses to impose full ban on PE-core aluminium cladding

The Australian federal government has refused to ban the import, sale and use of aluminium composite panels with a flammable polyethylene (PE) core as recommended by a Senate inquiry commission.

During a meeting of the Building Ministers’ Forum on Friday, governments partially agreed to halt the use of aluminium cladding products with PE cores “for class 2, 3, or 9 buildings of two or more storeys, and class 5, 6, 7 or 8 of three or more storeys”, till the time further measures have been developed on product labelling and testing.

The decision however refused to impose a full ban on PE-core aluminium cladding as recommended by the Senate committee. The Senate inquiry considered all current legal use of PE-core aluminium cladding like signage and low-rise residential applications as illegitimate in the light of the Grenfell tragedy and recommended a complete ban on its sale and use.  

“The committee believes that as there are safe non-flammable and fire retardant alternatives available there is no place for PE core ACPs in the Australian market,” the recommendation said.

However the federal government refused to implement a full ban considering all the legal uses.

“You would be banning across the board something that can be used legally in certain environments,” federal assistant minister for Industry Craig Laundy said.

According to him the ban would not be of much help because it was already illegal to use the cladding in high-rise applications, and an import ban would not cover PE-core ACP manufactured in Australia. 

As directed by the government, manufacturers, importers and installers of PE-core ACP must comply with: 

• the newly established standard setting test against which fire retardant cladding products are deemed to be reasonable for use in high-rise settings
• an established and implemented system of permanent labelling on cladding products to prevent substitution

Till then, the announced restrictions in use of PE-core ACP will be in force.  The federal government assured to provide regular data updates to the state and territories on import of ACP and other building products. 

“This will help reduce the information barriers and support states and territories to track movements of cladding and ensure these products are used in ways that comply with the [National Construction Code],” the BMF communique said.

NSW Minister for Better Regulation Matt Keane was “disappointed” at the federal government’s decision to not support the ban. CFMEU Construction national secretary Dave Noonan also expressed discontent at the decision. However, the government considered a partial ban to be a logical decision considering the interest of business owners as well as consumers.