Posts by mitchffb
Sydney high-rise evacuated amid fears building could collapse
A high-rise apartment block in the Sydney suburb of Mascot has been evacuated after residents reported the building started to move. Up to 100 apartments were evacuated by NSW Fire and Rescue who attended the Bourke Street building just after 6pm this evening. “We evacuated as a precaution, after movement was detected over a couple…
Read More‘This building has no sprinklers’: Grenfell United’s 12-storey-high guerrilla messages
Group beams huge projections on high-rises to highlight fire safety crisis Tower blocks across England have been lit up in a series of guerrilla projections highlighting a national fire safety crisis that appears to be getting worse rather than better on the eve of the second anniversary of the Grenfell disaster. As night fell on…
Read MoreMascot Towers unit owners to foot bill for repairs prompting calls for better consumer protections
Owners of apartments in the Mascot Towers development will be left with a hefty bill to repair structural damage as the building is too old to fall under warranty, with property experts calling for better consumer protections. Key points:• Residents were evacuated from the building on Friday night after a “rapid deterioration” of cracks• In…
Read MorePost-Grenfell anxiety for insurers, regulators and building owners continues
Some insurance companies worldwide have stopped insuring tower blocks clad with the same sort of materials that led to the rapid spread of the fire in London’s Grenfell Tower that killed 72 people. Building regulations are also struggling to catch up with effective regulation and monitoring. Fire engulfed all four sides of Grenfell Tower in…
Read MoreCharges laid after Wandal home destroyed by suspicious fire
ONE week after a Wandal home was gutted by a suspicious fire, police have charged a man. The 26-year-old has been charged with arson and fraud after police and emergency services were called to a Naughton St home shortly before 4pm last Tuesday. The owners of the home were left with next-to-nothing after the home…
Read MoreBalcony barbecue believed to have sparked devastating Gold Coast house fire
A Gold Coast home has been destroyed by a massive fire started by a barbecue that reportedly caught alight on the balcony. A balcony barbecue is believed to have started a fire that destroyed a Gold Coast home. The residents of the Reedy Creek home, a mum and her two kids, managed to escape and…
Read MoreGrowing crisis for Building Certification
30 May 2019 The ongoing cladding problem brought on by building fires around the world, particularly London’s Grenfell and in Australia, Melbourne’s Lacrosse has highlighted the risk to insurers in the professional indemnity (PI) policies they carry. As a result, building certifiers everywhere are facing challenges when it comes time to renew their policies. Certifiers…
Read MoreDeepwater fire gutted George Spiteri’s honey farm but locals help him get back on his feet
Residents in the bushfire-ravaged central Queensland community of Deepwater have joined forces to help a local business owner left homeless and without an income when his honey production farm was destroyed. The fires burnt through 45,000 hectares late last year, destroying homes, farms and sheds and causing more than $2 million in damage to George…
Read MoreBig Brother house fire: Building ‘deliberately’ set alight by vandals
The Big Brother Australia house is still standing after allegedly being deliberately lit over the weekend. Fire crews were called to bushland near the structure, tucked away near Gold Coast’s Dreamworld amusement park, at 2.20pm on Sunday. Firefighters had the blaze under control within 10 minutes of arriving and say the cause is not known.…
Read MoreFire safety and moisture management in building façades
The Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 and Melbourne Lacrosse building fire in 2014 put a spotlight on Australia’s cladding industry, which was discovered to be rife with non-compliant combustible cladding. Amendments have since been made to the National Construction Code (NCC), banning the use of combustible elements making up building façades, although this in turn…
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