Government Insulation Safety Audits & Inspections
Home Insulation Rebate - Halted on 19 Feb 10 - In response to concerns over safety the Federal Government announced an immediate halt to the Home Insulation Rebate.
Over 1.1 million homes were insulated under the Home Insulation Rebate but under increasing pressure from industry leaders & media over the;
* Deaths of 4 installers,
* 90+ house fires attributed to insulation
* Wide spread use of insulation materials that did not meet Australian Standards &
* Wide spread rorting of the system by dodgy insulation companies.
The government was left with no option but to stop the rebate.
Government Safety Audits
In addition to halting the rebate the government announced two new safety measure to audit homes insulated under the rebate, these are - Home Insulation Audits - for Non Foil Insulation
- Reflective Foil Insulation - Electrical Safety Inspections
1. Home Insulation Audits - Non Foil Insulation
The government plans to increase the number of audits to 160,000 homes insulated under the rebate - with bulk insulation (fibreglass, cellulose etc)
The government also states that the Auditing of homes will be largely random, with an emphasis on homes identified as a higher risk from previous audits or from the list of deregistered installers.
Complaints can still be made to the Government Rebate Hotline on 1800 808 571 - however there is currently NO provision to request your home to be audited or inspected by the government.
The Government's Insulation Rebate Hotline - Advice
The advise from the Governments Insulation Hotline is that if you are concerned about your insulation or insulation company you have two options if the concern is in relation to a;
a) Specific Insulation Issue - That is you know that your insulation was not installed correctly or would not meet Australian Standards, then the government advises you to contact the company that installed your insulation to request them to rectify the issue. If this fails to resolve the issue you may seek action against the company through the Department of Fair Trading and/or by following the advise for a general concern.
b) General Concern - If you are concerned about the risk of fire or safety of the insulation installed in your home or believe your installer was dodgy but you do not have a specific issue, then the government's advises you to arrange an expert in the industry to inspect your installation and report back to you with any safety or non compliance issues.
For more information and advice on organising an Insulation Inspection.
2. Foil Insulation - Electrical Safety Inspections About 49,000 homes were insulated with foil or reflective insulation of which 40,000 were installed in Queensland.
On the 9th Feb 10 the government suspended the use of foil insulation under the rebate. From previous government audits of foil installations it found that up to 1000 of the 49,000 homes insulated with foil may be electrically live or could become live in the future.
Consequently all homes insulated with foil under the rebate are now entitled to have an Electrical Safety Inspection. paid for by the government. If your home was insulated with foil the government highly recommends you organise an electrical contractor to inspect your home to ensure that t is safe for any electrical issues. For more details about how to obtain an Electrical Safety Inspection.
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