❓ Mr. Katsambanis asks if the WA government will provide financial assistance to strata owners struggling to pay levies for cladding remediation. The Minister confirms no state funding is available, placing responsibility on owners and suggesting claims against certifiers.
AnsweredQoN 969Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CLADDING — FIRE RISK
969. Mr P.A. KATSAMBANIS to the Minister for Commerce:
I
have a supplementary question. Can the minister tell me whether any financial
assistance from the state government is available for struggling strata
title owners in some of these towers who may not have the financial capacity to
pay a levy that has been levied upon them to fix this dangerous, high-risk
cladding?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
969. Mr P.A. KATSAMBANIS to the Minister for Commerce:
I
have a supplementary question. Can the minister tell me whether any financial
assistance from the state government is available for struggling strata
title owners in some of these towers who may not have the financial capacity to
pay a levy that has been levied upon them to fix this dangerous, high-risk
cladding?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
AnswerView source ↗
No, there is none. The state
government is not funding the remediation of private buildings. The remediation
of private buildings is the responsibility of the owners of those buildings
that has that cladding on it. They may in turn, however, have claims back upon
architects and building surveyors who incorrectly certified the buildings as
complying with the regulations. Might I stress that the regulations against
flammable cladding have been around for decades, but some surveyors started to
stretch the definition. Flammable cladding was allowed, as the member knows, for decorative purposes and for awnings,
but some surveyors started to stretch this definition and started to allow it to be applied as cladding. The private
owners will have claims against those architects and building surveyors who incorrectly certified their buildings as complying with the building
regulations, which they are clearly not. It is not for the government to step
in and pay for that aberrant behaviour.
The SPEAKER : That is the end
of question time.
government is not funding the remediation of private buildings. The remediation
of private buildings is the responsibility of the owners of those buildings
that has that cladding on it. They may in turn, however, have claims back upon
architects and building surveyors who incorrectly certified the buildings as
complying with the regulations. Might I stress that the regulations against
flammable cladding have been around for decades, but some surveyors started to
stretch the definition. Flammable cladding was allowed, as the member knows, for decorative purposes and for awnings,
but some surveyors started to stretch this definition and started to allow it to be applied as cladding. The private
owners will have claims against those architects and building surveyors who incorrectly certified their buildings as complying with the building
regulations, which they are clearly not. It is not for the government to step
in and pay for that aberrant behaviour.
The SPEAKER : That is the end
of question time.
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