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Articles on Fire risk

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Repairing storm damage is expensive, and insurance covers less than many people realize. Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Flood risk ratings: Translating risk to future costs helps homebuyers and renters grasp the odds

Telling people they have a flood risk rating of 10 is less powerful than explaining how much they’re likely to pay to deal with flooding over the next five years.
Homes overlook a forest in the wildland-urban interface in Arizona. Marius von Essen

The fastest population growth in the West’s wildland-urban interface is in areas most vulnerable to wildfires

A new study maps vegetation’s fire risk across the West and shows where population in the highest-risk areas from California to Texas is booming.
Residents haven’t been able to return to their Mascot Towers apartments since being evacuated in June 2019. Bianca De Marchi/AAP

Dealing with apartment defects: a how-to guide for strata owners and buyers

Identifying and fixing apartment defects can be challenging, especially as they’re often the shared responsibility of all owners in the building. A new guide aims to help navigate the pitfalls.
The materials used for cladding buildings can greatly affect a building’s overall vulnerability to fire. In Australia, buildings with flammable cladding continue to pose safety concerns. SHUTTERSTOCK

We made a flammable cladding database to help boost fire safety in our buildings

Ensuring a building will be safe against fire requires careful consideration from not only fire engineers, but also from builders, architects and building owners.
The burden of regulatory failure hasn’t just hit residents of evacuated apartments like the Neo200 building in Melbourne – it affects everyone living in a building with serious defects. Ellen Smith/AAP

Housing with buyer protection and no serious faults – is that too much to ask of builders and regulators?

Years of regulatory failure are having direct impacts on the hip pockets of the many Australians who bought defective houses or apartments. It’s turning into a multibillion-dollar disaster.
Can Australians be confident that the new National Construction Code will ensure new buildings avoid structural defects like those that led to the evacuation of the Opal Tower (left) in Sydney? Dylan Coker/AAP

Australia has a new National Construction Code, but it’s still not good enough

Under the new code, buildings are hardly likely to differ measurably from their fault-ridden older siblings and can still fall short of a six-star rating. It’s possible they may have no stars!
Flames spread rapidly up the external wall cladding at the Lacrosse building in Melbourne in November 2014. More than four years on, the combustible panels are still in use. MFB

Lacrosse fire ruling sends shudders through building industry consultants and governments

Architects, certifiers and engineers who work as consultants to builders are on notice about potential liability for the use of flammable cladding, but governments are also culpable for their actions.
Victorian Governor Linda Dessau places a flower on a model of Victoria at a memorial service for the ten-year anniversary of the 2009 Victorian bushfires. David Crosling/AAP

What has Australia learned from Black Saturday?

The Black Saturday fires transformed the way Australia responds to bushfires.
The fire in the Melbourne CBD on Monday was a reminder of the urgency of developing a system that guarantees only materials that meet building safety standards are used. Bekah Jane/Twitter

Cladding fires expose gaps in building material safety checks. Here’s a solution

Fortunately, no lives were lost in the latest cladding fire in Melbourne, but it’s a stark reminder of the urgent need to track and verify that building materials comply with safety standards.

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