Facilities Management (Page 6)

A rise in solar panel fires in several Australian states has prompted a warning for hundreds of apartment owners going green on the cheap. At Ace, we’re concerned the problem could quickly grow with the huge popularity of solar power only increasing, if owners corporations/bodies corporate continue to put price over quality. Apartment blocks are well suited to solar networks because the energy generated can be used to power common areas creating costs-savings for owners corporations, but the presence of inexperienced market operators using cheap products has unfortunately exposed owners to serious fire risks. Fire Departments in Queensland have attended over 50 fires in theRead More →

The Queensland Government is cracking down on combustible building cladding, following the Grenfell Tower fire in London and the discovery that the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane is clad in a similarly combustible material. The new Audit Taskforce is Queensland’s response to Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull’s call for States to ensure buildings meet Australian standards for fire safety. 44 buildings in Queensland – 23 government owned and 21 privately held – are undergoing compliance checks. While no other cases of non-compliant cladding have been found in the month since the taskforce launched, wider reviews could uncover many more; investigations after the 2014 Lacrosse fire inRead More →