The cladding was advertised as safe for use in residential, commercial and public buildings by German manufacturer 3A Composites and its Australian distributor Halifax Vogal Group (HVG), a court heard yesterday.
However the components were claimed to be “wholly unsuitable” for that purpose, as they were made of flammable material which could accelerate the spread of fire throughout a building.
Combustible cladding hit the public eye after the July 2017 fire at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in London where 72 people died.
Footage of that fire played to the Federal Court on yesterday showed flames rising all the way up to the roof of the building while molten debris dripped onto the street below.
Certain types of cladding have been banned in Australia, meaning that owners corporations were suddenly made to spend hundreds of thousands …