Cladding Product Safety Panel
The Cladding Product Safety Panel (CPSP) was an expert panel of building and construction specialists in New South Wales supported the removal of unsafe cladding in the state. The CPSP was active from 29 July 2020 ceasing on 28 August 2023.
Application to supply cladding materials or systems
About the panel
The Cladding Product Safety Panel (CPSP) were experts in fire safety engineering, product testing, building surveying and certification, and construction and building insurance. Panel members were appointed on 29 July 2020 by the then Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation The Hon. Kevin John Anderson.
The CPSP provided 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 informed 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 was also designed to ensure that rectified buildings could be fully and affordably insured, by enabling the insurance industry to better quantify cladding risks and risk control measures.
The CPSP’s advice was 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 had provided two reports to the NSW Government on cladding products.
- 19 April 2022 - Cladding product safety panel report number 1 (PDF 389.13KB)
- 28 April 2022 - Cladding product safety panel report number 2 (PDF 303.75KB)
It updated on the ongoing CPSP undertakings and confirmed additional replacement cladding materials for use in Project Remediate.
It provided 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 report noted that the recommendations did not apply to and were not required to be met by other classes of buildings or residential apartment buildings that were not being remediated under Project Remediate.
While the report recommended replacement product categories for buildings participating in the program, no individual material or brand had been endorsed by the CPSP. Before they were used, individual products would need to meet the CPSP’s requirements.
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 had been appointed until 28 August 2023:
- 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 (from 29 July 2020 to 28 July 2022) & Mr Michael Hunneyball ( from 29 July 2023 to 28 August 2023), Insurance Council of Australia
The CPSP met to review and discuss matters and formulated advice. The Department of Customer Service provided secretariat and other services to support the Panel’s work.
The panel’s role
The CPSP provided expert advice only, and did not have regulatory or decision-making powers. Consent authorities (local councils) remained 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 provided advice to the NSW Cladding Taskforce and the Cladding Support Unit, which shared relevant advice with local councils in line with the existing support arrangements.
Advice that was of wider interest or application was published and made available for building owners and industry practitioners to access when they were making decisions about particular products or solutions that might be used in the rectification of buildings.
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’.