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Canberra Today 24°/27° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Scheme helps pay for combustible cladding tests

A SCHEME introduced today (July 21) by the ACT government will pay half of what it costs for eligible building owners to test and assess buildings for combustible cladding. 

The initiative, the “Private Buildings Cladding Scheme“, will offer a 50 per cent rebate to cover cost of undertaking the testing and assessment on each building, up to a maximum rebate of $20,000 (excluding GST).

If a building is assessed as requiring cladding remediation work, the scheme will also offer concessional loans to assist with funding remediation works. Details of the concessional loans to be offered in phase two of the scheme and will be available once outcomes from phase one are known.

The scheme is available to owners of eligible ACT buildings defined as:

  • an apartment building with a rise of three storeys or more, or a cluster of residential buildings close to each other that represents a high fire risk;
  • a building or buildings that contains residential apartments or have a mix of uses such as residential apartments with ground floor shops or offices;
  • a building judged to contain combustible cladding based on reasonable grounds by the Owners Corporation.

When announcing the scheme, Sustainable Building and Construction Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the government recognises the challenges faced by apartment building owners to address combustible cladding without assistance, which is why the scheme will provide financial support during phase one of testing and assessment and concessional loans for phase two of rectification.

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Ian Meikle, editor

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