'Ticking time bomb' glass balcony explodes over Melbourne pedestrians
It is only a matter of time until someone is hurt or killed by exploding glass from dodgy panels on apartment balconies, building safety experts believe.
Pedestrians in Melbourne were just a few steps from disaster as glass rained down on a Carlton footpath.
High above in a residential tower balcony had spontaneously shattered and it is not the first time.
Phillip Dwyer from the Builders Collective of Australia said they are ticking time bombs.
“We’ve got to be more vigilant and our authorities need to regulate and regulate properly instead of the blame game,” he said.
Dodgy glass from overseas is thought to be the cause, imported from manufacturers who dupe local developers with fake compliance certificates.
“I believed what’s happened is the impurities have staged in the glass making it susceptible to heat stress and temperature change,” Roger Hills from the Building Products Innovation Council said.
“As an industry we’re concerned. We’ve been telling the government for more than 10 years that these problems are there.”
Residents Eileen Dinse said she expected the Carlton glass shower to happen again.
“It’s very frightening because there’s so many glass panels there,” she said.
“Is it just a matter of time before the other ones start to explode? That’s what makes me very angry is that we’ve never been informed.
It happened at Brunswick last year too.
Some panels are waiting to be repaired.
The top one disintegrated a few weeks ago, destroying the two below.
“Our balcony was covered in shattered glass… It’s dangerous. We have a dog, he goes on the balcony a lot,” resident Dave Budd said.
“I’m just worried about people working along to sidewalk, really.”
