'Our building is covered in petrol': Primary school teacher, 28, faces a $100,000 bill to remove dangerous cladding from her Melbourne unit
- Blaire Warren-Smith purchased her apartment, approved by proper authorities
- The 28-year-old has been left helpless as she's slapped with a $100,000 bill
- Developers of her apartment have told her she needs to remove the cladding
- She has also been forced to immediately fork out $8,000 of emergency costs
A young primary school teacher will have to pay as much as $100,000 to remove dangerous cladding from her Melbourne apartment.
Blaire Warren-Smith, 28, bought the two-bedroom, inner-city apartment for $500,000 last year.
She had no idea the apartment - which was given the approval by authorities and fire engineers before she bought it - was covered in flammable cladding at the time.
'Basically our building is covered in petrol,' she told 3AW's Neil Mitchell.
Blaire Warren-Smith, 28, purchased an apartment (pictured) in inner-Melbourne which was given the tick of approval by authorities, including fire engineers over a year ago
The young teacher has already been made to pay $8,000 in emergency costs, including the removal of wooden items from outdoor areas.
'It's very stressful. It's having a massive impact … It's money that I don't have and I can't just throw away,' the primary teacher told Today.
The 28-year-old said she didn't even have the option of selling her apartment to escape the hefty bill because the cladding had stripped the unit's value.
'I think in theory you are meant to take a loan from the bank but I am fully mortgaged so I can't take a loan from the bank,' she said as she tried to hold back tears.
'There's nothing you can do — you're part of an owners corporation, they make decisions on your behalf, you're given bill after bill after bill, of which I don't have the money to pay.
'There's no one doing anything for you; there's nothing you can do, there's nowhere for you to go.'
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But Ms Warren-Smith has been left helpless as she's forced to immediately fork out nearly $8,000 worth of emergency costs – an expense she can't afford
The Victorian Building Authority, which regulates the safety of cladding, works with labs responsible for testing samples of the material.
All cladding in the state must be tested by labs to ensure they meet regulations or else the material must be removed.
Cladding found to be made of pure polyethylene – a type of popular plastic – must be removed.
'If there is more than 70 percent flame retardant it's at a safe level and will reduce the combustibility of the building,' ExcelPlas senior scientist Frank Bambino said.
'But if there is more than 30 percent polyethylene the risk of combustion is a lot higher and the chance of a fire is quite high.'
Opposition planning minister Tim Smith said the state Government should help Ms Warren-Smith pay for the cladding to be removed.
'The Victorian Building Authority is the regulator, it has failed,' Mr Smith Said.
'Therefore the Government has a responsibility to help people involved in this fiasco they have to stump up the money.'
A spokeswoman on behalf of Minister for Planning Richard Wynne told Daily Mail Australia said the Government was working closely with The Victorian Building Authority.
'We know how concerning cladding problems are for apartment owners, that's why we're making sure the VBA is working closely with the people affected,' a statement read.
'Our dedicated cladding taskforce is expected to finalise their final report in the coming weeks and will have more to say when we have assessed its recommendations.'
The 28-year-old says she doesn't even have the option of selling her apartment to escape the hefty bill because the cladding has stripped the unit's value
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