Archicentre

Following another balcony accident in New South Wales last night where twelve teenagers were injured when a balcony collapsed during a party on Sydney's north shore, Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects has issued a national red alert on balcony maintenance and overloading balconies with party groups.

Angus Kell

About 20 people were on the Lane Cove property balcony when it gave way at around 8.45pm, with party-goers aged between 16 and 18 falling about 2.5 metres, and 12 people hurt in the fall sustaining injuries ranging from scratches to a broken leg.

Angus Kell, ACT & NSW State Manager of Archicentre said we urge everyone with a balcony or raised deck, whether it's timber, concrete or features steel supports, to check it out carefully for safety, including an inspection for rotting timbers, shaky hand rails and balustrades, rusting bolts and brackets, rust stains and cracking in concrete balconies.

"The dinner or party where people gather on the balcony for a drink or a barbeque is high risk activities."

Archicentre's pre-purchase home inspection statistics show that approximately 6% of Australian homes have a timber balcony or deck and that about 2% of these are potentially fata

Mr Kell said these figures indicate around 8,000 balconies in Australia could be life threatening and there is a need for people to inspect their decks and balconies for rotting timbers and rusty corroding steel fittings which could lead to life threatening balcony collapses.

"In recent years, balcony collapses have occurred where decks that had not been used for years were subjected to heavy crowd loads when the new owners held house warming parties or special family functions.

"If people find faults they should take immediate action to repair them and if they are not sure to seek professional advice."

Archicentre has information available from the website on How to look out for a Balcony Collapse at http://www.archicentre.com.au/Balconytips.pdf

www.archicentre.com.au

Media Enquiries:
Angus Kell, ACT & NSW State Manager of Archicentre Mobile: 0412 565 023
Ron Smith Corporate Media Communications Archicentre Mobile: 0417 329 201