The four owners of the buildings pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court in May, June, and August in separate cases brought by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).
One owner was charged with three counts of failing to provide the QBCC a completed combustible cladding checklist, a Building Fire Safety Risk Assessment and a Fire Engineer Statement, in contravention of the Building Regulation 2006 (Qld).
The charges related to three separate private buildings, and resulted in a total of $15,000 in fines and an order to pay $750 in legal costs.
The other three owners pleaded guilty to the same charges, in relation to their individual properties, and were fined $8,000, $7,000 and $5,000 respectively and ordered to pay legal costs.
QBCC Commissioner, Anissa Levy, said the Safer Buildings Program had helped create more certainty and safety in regard to construction materials used on Queensland buildings.
“These laws help protect us all in the buildings where we live, work and gather, and were introduced following the tragic death of 72 people in London’s Grenfell Tower,” Ms Levy says.
The QBCC is currently prosecuting a number of other private building owners in Queensland who have allegedly failed to submit the required documentation.
BACKGROUND
The Queensland Government introduced changes to the Building Regulation 2006, which commenced on 1 October, 2018.
The changes required owners of particular buildings to undertake an assessment of the material used on the external walls of their building using the combustible cladding checklist.
The checklist process is designed to identify which buildings are affected by combustible cladding and whether cladding rectification work is likely to be required to achieve an acceptable level of safety.
The deadline for building owners to submit the checklist without penalty was 3 May, 2021.
Failure to submit the checklist is an offence and may result in regulatory action, including monetary penalties and prosecution in the Magistrates Court.