Role of Platinum Strata at Cladding Rectifications works at Lacrosse Towers
The Platinum Strata team was duly recognized for how well Lacrosse fire was managed during the course of the emergency when all parties involved joined forces together to deal with the issues.
All occupants were quickly alerted and evacuated and well-managed building management systems were put in motion with no fatalities or serious injuries.
Secondly, places for temporary accommodation were arranged with additional provisions by all agencies supporting the rescue effort.
Most importantly, emergency building management protocols were adopted within a short time span to allow partial occupation under a controlled environment.
This incident brings into question the ability to build a legislative and regulatory framework to minimize the negative impact of such an occurrence with having adequate mechanisms to police and control these functions who should pick the tab in fixing or should there has been insurance to cover for the purpose.
It was the first major building fire in Melbourne caused by combustible cladding, which is now a serious and widespread problem.
Platinum believes that the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s (VCAT) Lacrosse decision is both a win for apartment owners and absolution for builders, despite its complex legal expression.
The owners of apartments that we manage, Lacrosse Apartments in Docklands have won more than $5.7 million in damages in a lawsuit launched after a fire fueled by flammable cladding caused significant damage to the building in November 2014.
A review by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) found the building’s cladding was not compliant with combustibility requirements, and the Buildings Appeal Board ordered the cladding be removed from Lacrosse in January 2017.
During the last 5 years, Platinum was heavily involved as the backbone of the Owners corporation in;
- Working with the Facilities manager as a team in preparation for the mammoth task ahead since the fire
- Working with the lost adjusters with Loss of Rent claims and liaising with individual lot owners by providing not only just administrative support but also helping with their emotional stress
- Assisting both OC lawyers and the insurance lawyers alike with the preparation of contracts and other documentation in satisfying the statutory as well as other legal obligations
- Dealing with complex ledger adjustments
- Responding to various building orders and liaising with all stakeholders helping to meet deadlines
- Establishing an order invoices payment system in dealing with a plethora of complex transactions during the crisis
- Working with insurance Lawyers with final claims and complex adjustments
- Working with the committee/OC Lawyers with media releases while maintaining a document repository for the benefit of all.
- Organizing a multitude of public as well as OC member information sessions with over 400 in attendance in managing the events and helping to draft presentation material for such events
- Coordinating various contractors such as project managers during the rectification process
- Effectively communicating with Owners and other parties carefully and skilfully drafting circulars, newsletters and other material with the oversight of the OC lawyers
- Supporting the committee members/OC lawyers with the VCAT proceedings
- Organizing a large number of Ballots, SGM and EOGM and preparing the documentation for the purpose
- Above all acting as the center for information for all owners during the crisis by being able to provide support during the entire ordeal.
Whilst it was fortunate that fatalities did not occur, complacency cannot be afforded when considering catastrophic cladding fires such as Grenfell Tower in London in 2017 where over 80 lives were lost.
Defects in strata buildings are already at a crisis stage in Melbourne where Viduni at Platinum with the support from the OC lawyer, Tom Bacon, was able to scuttle the forced evacuations attempt by VBA f due to fire safety issues associated with combustible cladding at another property being rectified at present.
According to Viduni, unfortunately, Cladding is merely one example amongst many issues that need to be addressed where rectification must be well considered and planned. The risk posed by combustible cladding varies from minor to significant depending on the composite of products used and how extensively they have been used.
Platinum believes that many buildings in Australia have various forms of cladding that do not meet the relevant building codes, and whilst blame and accountability were the initial focus of attention, consideration must move towards rectification with a view to safety, building value and insurance implications.
Parallelly, Platinum will negotiate with the strata funding broker to obtain the best loan facility if desirable to accomplish the project in accordance with the timeline. At the same time, Platinum will support any move by the OC to seek recovery of remediation costs through various other legal avenues as an option however, based on individual circumstances, it may not expect that any recovery action will meet the full costs incurred to rectify the issue, leaving owners to cover any shortfall.
Platinum always believes that early engagement with experts is critical as they can assist in determining the magnitude of any problem that may exist while discouraging Interim mitigation measures can often be inexpensive and reduce fire risk to buildings.
Platinum always recognizes the merits of performance solutions measures or replacement of the cladding material needs a detailed investigation by various experts including a fire engineer while paying particular attention to building elements that may impact the fire resistance or even weather resistance of the structure.
Platinum is aware that it is critical that the experts you engage consider all underlying materials such as insulation, support framing and fire barriers that may be disturbed or need upgrading.
Platinum investigates or keeps an eye on the financial consequences that are already impacting property owners in particular with the potential to see a significant rise in Insurance premiums.
In any case, Platinum recognized that invariably all such unplanned expenses will place considerable stress on owners who simply cannot afford increased levies. In dealing with such a situation, how efficiently both the committee and strata manager performed their duties with due care and diligence with no doubt will definitely be made known to all.