A major surveying company has gone into administration – potentially bringing three billion dollars of construction projects across the state to a halt.

JMG claims it’s the victim of a decision by the Department of Mines Industry Regulation and Safety to change the criteria around combustible cladding.

The company’s owner says the change to legislation has led to a wave of legal action from building owners concerned about the safety of their properties.

Director of Milestone Certifiers Richard Attiwell says insurers don’t want to cover any companies that deal with cladding.

Director of Building Compliance at Building and Energy Sandy Randall says the rules for non-combustible cladding had existed since the building code came into force in 1990 and hadn’t been changed.

She said confusion had arisen after cladding became more popular as a decorative material.

“It wasn’t a rule change it was a clarification amendment,” she said.

“The code is very clear that you cannot used the same approval process for using cladding for different purposes.”

You can listen to both interviews with Gareth Parker here:

Download this podcast here