The Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal has ruled that those who consulted to builder LU Simon on Melbourne’s Lacrosse Building were responsible for the combustible cladding that caused a potentially fatal fire in 2014. LU Simon must now pay apartment owners $5.75 million in damages arising from the fire, but the consultants, which include architecture firm Elenberg Fraser, must reimburse LU Simon for this cost, as well as paying an additional $6.8 million for the cost of the cladding’s replacement. From The ABC:
The owners of apartments at Melbourne’s Lacrosse tower in Docklands have won more than $5.7 million in damages in a lawsuit launched after a fire fuelled by flammable cladding caused significant damage to the building in November 2014…
That claim for damages covered the cost for owners of replacing non-compliant cladding, damaged property, additional insurance premiums and “anticipated future losses”.
In a decision handed down in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) by Judge Ted Woodward on Thursday, LU Simon was ordered to pay more than $5.7 million to apartment owners.However, most of that money would be paid to LU Simon by the architect, fire engineer and building surveyor who worked on the project, after Judge Woodward found they had breached contractual obligations…
In his ruling, Judge Woodward found the architects Elenberg Fraser had failed to remedy “defects in its design”, specifically designs which allowed the “extensive use” of aluminium composite panels (ACPs) on the east and west facades of the building…
He also found the building surveyor, Gardner Group, breached its agreement with LU Simon by failing to exercise due care when it issued a building permit in 2011 for those architect plans.
Thirdly, he found the fire engineer, trading as Thomas Nicolas, failed to recognise and warn the builder that the ACPs proposed for use on the building did not comply with the building code…
As a result, he ordered that the three parties pay LU Simon a combined total of 97 per cent of the damages owed to apartment owners.
Gardner Group was ordered to pay 33 per cent, Elenberg Fraser 25 per cent and Thomas Nicolas 39 per cent…
Some of the $12.7 million sought by apartment owners is yet to be resolved.
This is great news as it means that the owners that purchased apartments in these buildings in good faith will not be left carrying the cost. It also sets an important precedent for future cases, which is particularly important given there are potentially hundreds of buildings that will require non-conforming cladding to be removed.
