Class Action on Combustible Cladding

New Zealand apartment owners are expected to launch legal action

The combustible cladding crisis is being felt across the ditch as owners of buildings clad in combustible aluminium panels are preparing a class action. While it’s still unclear how many buildings in Australia and New Zealand are affected, Kiwi apartment owners aren’t wasting any more time following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 and the Lacrosse fire in Melbourne in 2014.

Many owners are already taking steps to remove suspect aluminium panels from their properties. A combustible cladding class action has also been launched, enabling apartment owners to register their interest.

Law firm Russell McVeagh has lined up with Australian litigation lender IMF Bentham to fund the class action lawsuit.

It is expected the NZ class action against manufacturers of Alucobond and Vitrabond PE core cladding products will be filed by the end of the year.

The class action is open to property owners, bodies corporate, and leaseholders who had suffered or would suffer financial loss from the manufacturers’ products, including rising insurance premiums.