Cladding Remediation Partnership Program

Merri-bek City Council is working with Cladding Safety Victoria and the Department of Transport and Planning to assist the owners of apartment buildings where combustible cladding is present on external walls and requires some action to mitigate any risk of fire spread. Cladding remediation projects are already complete on many buildings across Victoria.

Through the Cladding Remediation Partnership Program, Merri-bek City Council will be supported by Cladding Safety Victoria to manage the remediation process with clear policy around how cladding risk is assessed and a procedure for how risk can be addressed.

Supporting this is the Minister’s Guideline (MG-15) and the Cladding Risk Mitigation Framework.

Read more about the Program, Guideline and Framework on the Department of Transport and Planning’s website.
Read more about the Cladding Rectification Program on Cladding Safety Victoria’s website.

If you are an owner of a building affected by the Cladding Remediation Partnership Program located in the municipality of Merri-bek City Council, you will be contacted directly. Alternatively, you can contact us by phoning on 9240 1111.

Advice for apartment purchasers

If you are thinking of buying an apartment, you should make sure you are aware of any issues with the building. Before you buy an apartment, the owner should give you a Section 32 statement, which is a statement that contains information about the property. You should read this carefully for any information about combustible cladding.

A Section 32 statement might include:

• a building notice asking the owners to explain why they should not replace combustible cladding.
• a building order telling the owners to carry out building work to replace combustible cladding.
• a letter from the VBA to the owners corporation manager with recommendations to reduce the safety risks of the building.

If you are buying an apartment, you should ask the owners corporation manager to give you an up-to-date owners corporation certificate so that you can make sure you have the most recent information.

A request for property information certificate (Reg 51(1)) can be requested (for a fee) through the following link Property information (merri-bek.vic.gov.au) Reg 51(1) Certificate will specify whether there are any outstanding building notices or building orders on the building which may relate to cladding, and details of any building permits or occupancy permits issued within the previous 10 years.

Note: Due to privacy legislative requirements, Council is unable to disclose specific details of any outstanding notices or orders to any person other than the owner. In this regard, a copy of any issued Building Notice or Order identified as part of Reg51(1) certificate from Council should be obtained from the owner/owner’s corporation.

More cladding resources

• Cladding Safety Victoria