Apartment Cladding Audits in 2024-2026: Where the State Programs Landed

The combustible cladding audits launched across Australian states after the Lacrosse (2014) and Grenfell (2017) fires have now run long enough to produce visible rectification programs. The identification phase is largely complete. Remediation is where inspectors and owners corporations still have real work to do.

In Victoria, Cladding Safety Victoria was established in 2019 to manage state-funded rectification using a risk-rated approach. In New South Wales, Project Remediate was launched in 2020 offering ten-year interest-free loans to eligible owners corporations. In Queensland, the Combustible Cladding Checklist is mandatory for affected private buildings under the Building Regulation 2006.

The underlying regulatory change was NCC 2019 Amendment 1, which prohibited aluminium composite panels with a polyethylene core over 30% on Class 2 to 9 buildings above three storeys. AS 5113-2016 is the full-scale facade fire test method referenced in the NCC.

For inspectors performing due diligence on apartment buildings, two things matter. First, sale contracts in NSW must disclose cladding remediation orders under the Conveyancing Regulation. Second, the presence of non-compliant cladding is no longer a hidden risk, it is a documented, registered, and sometimes lending-sensitive condition.