Builders, architects, insurers await Lacrosse cladding appeal ruling

Builders, consultants and insurers have an anxious few months ahead as they await the judgment of Victoria’s Supreme Court of Appeal, which last week wrapped up a long-awaited hearing into the liability rulings around combustible cladding on Melbourne’s Lacrosse building.

Justices David Beach, Kathryn Stynes and Robert Osborn last week heard the three-day appeal brought by architecture firm Elenberg Fraser, fire engineering consultancy Thomas Nicolas and building surveyor Gardner Group, seeking to overturn the 2019 judgment that hit them with over $12 million in damages for use of polyethylene-core panels on the tower.