The Victorian Government has announced that it will fast-track the rectification of buildings with dangerous cladding to make them safer sooner and create thousands of jobs as the economy rebuilds from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Government’s $600 million plan to fix flammable cladding was originally designed to rectify up to 100 buildings per year. The revised goal would have the number of projects expanded to work started on up to 400 buildings within two years and achieving this by working closely with the building and construction industry.

Cladding Safety Victoria (CSV) will work with a select group of reputable builders to rectify their projects at no-profit. Participating builders must pass government checks and have no relevant or significant pending or past disciplinary action on their records.

Over time, more original builders will be invited to participate in this process, saving time for residents and saving taxpayers money.

Read the complete Victorian Government media release here.

This appears to be a good result for our industry and is the result of months of advocacy by Master Builders Victoria to ensure we are part of the solution, without any finger pointing.

CEO Rebecca Casson was interviewed by Ten News and had this to say on the outcome:

“Since the establishment of Cladding Safety Victoria, Master Builders Victoria has advocated to the State Government to use original builders to fast track the rectification of buildings with dangerous cladding.  Using the original builder can vastly reduce time spent on pre-construction planning work, meaning buildings will be safer, sooner and there will be less cost to the taxpayer,” Rebecca said.

“Master Builders take pride in their work and this does not evaporate once the project is complete. Indeed, many builders have already taken proactive, voluntary action to help rectify unsafe cladding immediately, even though they have done nothing wrong.

“Minster Wynne and Cladding Safety Victoria are to be congratulated on this all-of-industry approach, which will also create jobs as our economy rebuilds from the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage builders to come forward to contribute to the cladding solution.”

We will gather more information on the detail and mechanics of the scheme from Cladding Safety Victoria over the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you’re asked to participate please get in touch with Master Builders Victoria where we will update you on insurance and other administrative issues related to this.