Cladding Product Safety Panel
An expert panel of building and construction specialists supporting the removal of unsafe cladding in NSW.
Application to supply cladding materials or systems
About the panel
The Cladding Product Safety Panel (CPSP) has expertise in fire safety engineering, product testing, building surveying and certification, and construction and building insurance. Panel members were appointed by the Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation on 29 July 2020.
The CPSP provides expert advice to the NSW Cladding Taskforce and the Cladding Support Unit on the suitability of cladding replacement products and external wall assembly methods.
Advice from the CPSP will inform the cladding rectification work carried out under Project Remediate, the NSW Government’s program providing no-interest loans and an assurance service for the remediation of combustible cladding on high-risk residential buildings.
The CPSP is also designed to ensure that rectified buildings can be fully and affordably insured, by enabling the insurance industry to better quantify cladding risks and risk control measures.
The CPSP’s advice will be made available to assist councils, consent authorities and building owners make consistent, sustainable and cost-effective decisions in relation to cladding rectification work.
CPSP reports
The CPSP will provide a periodical report to the NSW Government. These reports are made available for the benefit of building owners and the cladding remediation industry.
CPSP Report 2 (28 April 2022)
The CPSP has provided its second report to Government on cladding products.
It provides an update on the ongoing CPSP undertakings and confirms additional replacement cladding materials for use in Project Remediate.
It provides an update on the following:
- engagement with suppliers to gather detailed information on materials proposed for use in Project Remediate
- publication of a consolidated list of materials that have been proposed and are currently under CPSP consideration
- consultation with suppliers and the development of a ‘reference’ material test to inform the CPSP’s assessment of bonded laminated materials proposed for use in Project Remediate
- recommendations related to additional cladding materials endorsed for use in Project Remediate.
NOTE: the recommendations in this report do not apply to and are not required to be met by other classes of buildings or residential apartment buildings that are not being remediated under Project Remediate.
While the report recommends replacement product categories for buildings participating in the program, no individual material or brand has been endorsed by the CPSP. Before they are used, Individual products will need to meet the CPSP’s requirements.
The CPSP has provided its first report to Government on cladding products.
The report includes advice and recommendations on how potentially flammable cladding should be assessed and replaced for buildings participating in Project Remediate.
The recommendations of this report do not apply to and are not required to be met by other classes of buildings or residential apartment buildings that are not being remediated as part of the Government’s Project Remediate program.
It also provides an initial list of recommended replacement products for buildings participating in the program.
Importantly, the report includes recommendations on wall system design and installation requirements necessary to support safe cladding remediation, including:
- requiring mechanical fixing of cladding panels (not glue or tape)
- the installation of cavity barriers in appropriate locations to prevent the spread of smoke or flame
- cladding replacement systems that are fully designed for each building by appropriate professionals, taking into account structural and wind loading considerations, weatherproofing, condensation and other matters.
While the report recommends replacement product categories for buildings participating in the program, no individual material or brand has been endorsed by the CPSP. Individual products will need to meet the CPSP’s requirements, including testing, before they are used.
Read the first cladding product safety panel report (PDF 389.13KB)
List of materials submitted to the CPSP
The CPSP has published a consolidated list of cladding materials (XLSX 36.77KB) that are submitted for consideration for Project Remediate. These submissions were received either by direct email (prior to release of application form) or through the online application process.
It is important to note that this list does not represent cladding replacement products/systems that have been endorsed. This information is published to provide transparency about the cladding products and systems submitted for consideration.
The list includes certain information about each material based on the submission, or information obtained from other sources such as supplier websites. The accuracy of this information has not necessarily been verified.
The online application to supply cladding materials or systems is still open. As a consequence, this consolidated list of submitted materials will be updated periodically.
Panel membership
The CPSP is an advisory committee for the Commissioner for Fair Trading, Building Commissioner and the Fire Safety & External Wall Cladding Taskforce.
The eight-member panel is chaired by Professor Mark Hoffman, who led the investigation into building failures at Mascot and Opal towers.
The following have been appointed until 28 July 2022:
- Chair - Professor Mark Hoffman
- Member - Mr Stephen Durnford, NSW Department of Customer Service
- Member and Deputy Chair - Dr Marianne Foley, building and construction expert
- Member - Mr Allan Harriman OAM, fire safety engineering expert
- Member - Mr Robert Marinelli, building surveying and building work certification expert
- Member - Mr Stephan Netting, Fire and Rescue NSW
- Member - Professor Bijan Samali, fire safety engineering expert
- Member - Mr Corey Nugent, Insurance Council of Australia
The CPSP will meet to review and discuss matters and formulate advice. The Department of Customer Service provides secretariat and other services to support the Panel’s work.
The panel’s role
The CPSP will only provide expert advice, it does not have regulatory or decision-making powers. Consent authorities (local councils) remain the relevant regulatory authorities responsible for assessing the safety and compliance of buildings, issuing and enforcing rectification orders and determining the suitability of rectification proposals.
The CPSP will provide advice to the Cladding Taskforce and the Cladding Support Unit, which will share relevant advice with local councils in line with the existing support arrangements.
Advice that is of wider interest or application will be published and made available for building owners and industry practitioners to access when they are making decisions about particular products or solutions that might be used in the rectification of buildings.
What the panel will consider
The CPSP’s immediate focus is on developing sound assessment processes and assessing cladding products and systems in order to provide a list of ‘preferred’ products for use in Project Remediate.
It is anticipated that this list will be developed and added to over time as the CPSP continues its work.
Matters can be submitted for consideration by completing the application form.
For more information, please contact the Cladding Product Safety Panel – Make an enquiry.
Questions and answers
The first report of the Cladding Product Safety Panel (CPSP) contained a list of four product categories that are considered acceptable replacement options for the purposes of Project Remediate.
These categories are:
- Solid aluminium
- Solid metal sheets
- Fibre cement
- Non-combustible cement render
Certain additional design and installation requirements also apply to these materials.
The CPSP is continuing to evaluate products and expects to include additional recommended products and systems in later reports.
The Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions of the National Construction Code (NCC) (C1.9) require the external walls and other specified components of certain buildings to be ‘non-combustible’.
A product can be regarded as ‘non-combustible’ if it has been tested to and met the relevant criteria in AS 1530.1.
The NCC (C1.9(e)) also lists certain products that can be used where the Code would otherwise require the product to be non-combustible. This includes products that may contain combustible elements such as plasterboard, fibre cement sheet and pre painted sheet metal.
Product documentation prepared by a manufacturer or supplier, should clearly specify whether the material is ‘non-combustible’ (as determined by AS 1530.1) or whether the material is permitted to be used where the Code would otherwise require the product to be ‘non-combustible’ (under the provisions of C1.9(e) of the NCC). A product that relies on the provisions of C1.9(e) of the NCC should not be referred to as a ‘non-combustible’ product or a product which is ‘deemed non-combustible’.