Thursday, 4 February 2021, 8:58 am In a move to reduce the risk of fire, the Victorian Government in Australia has banned the use of certain external wall cladding products – should New Zealand follow suit? The Victorian government has revealed a new amendment to the state’s building code which will prohibit the use of certain external wall cladding products in the construction of multi-storey buildings. Under the new declaration announced by planning minister Richard Wynne, aluminium composite panels with a core of less than 93 per cent inert mineral filler and expanded polystyrene products used in an external insulation will be banned. The changes, which will come into effect on 1