Businesses under pressure to inspect awning safety

“AN accident waiting to happen” was how the NSW Coroner described the awning collapse which killed a man in Balgowlah in 2007, prompting councils all over the state to remind businesses with awnings overhanging council footpaths to have these certified by a structural engineer.

In a letter dated 2 April of this year, several Bowraville businesses were requested by Nambucca Valley Council to carry out structural inspections of their awnings.

It was recommended that awnings be inspected every five years.

“Awnings more than ten years old are more susceptible to failure and should be inspected by a professional engineer to ensure structural adequacy,” Nambucca Valley Council wrote.

“There have been local examples of holding rods and fixing points of awnings being corroded to the point where failure was likely if not detected,” the letter further said.

According to Council General Manager Bede Spannagle, 150 Nambucca Valley building owners have been notified of their obligations through this campaign, which is part of a state-wide push.

So far, seven have provided details of completed inspections.

“It is expected all other Councils would be undertaking a similar program,” Mr Spannagle said in a statement.

“Council’s program is an advisory program, (so) it is not mandatory for property owners to provide documentation to Council,” he added.

However, finding a structural engineer to complete an awning inspection may prove a difficult task for some property owners.

Engineers have been reluctant to conduct awning assessments, citing heavy workloads and the complications which would arise from taking on such jobs.

“The Council and the owners want someone to guarantee that the awning will not collapse but they don’t seem to understand that a lot of these cases are just not so simple,” one Nambucca Valley structural engineer explained.

“Nobody wants to pay to do the work that is needed and they think it is just a quick visit and a letter from an engineer.”

Tim Polo from Sawtell-based engineering firm Nambucca Engineering told NOTA, “We have received multiple requests lately.

“Some we have done (but) some we have refused.”

Newer buildings are of less safety concern and can be more readily (and therefore inexpensively) inspected, but older buildings, particularly those where an unsupported awning cantilevers out from the structure, present more difficulties.

In such cases, an engineer would need to remove roof sheeting and or cladding to inspect the ties and holding plates which usually fail when the awning collapses.

These cladding sheets would then need to be reattached and waterproofed.

Workplace safety requires that work carried out at a height of more than two metres use scaffolding and the council-owned walkway below could be blocked as the awning is temporarily supported by props.

“These awnings present a high risk to public safety,” Mr Polo said.

“(Although) a simple case might cost around $1200, others present a really big job,” he explained.

“With traffic control, builders and other costs, you might be looking at around $15,000 or more.”

Council has sent letters like these to building owners at least three times since 2001.

There is also no suggestion that the ballooning cost of these requirements to struggling small business owners will be even partially reimbursed by Council.

According to a NSW Government Planning and Infrastructure circular issued in 2013, “Awnings are part of the buildings to which they are attached and are the responsibility of the owner of the building, even when an awning is located over a public footpath.”

One small business owner who rents a street fronting shop in Macksville explained to NOTA that the awning of the building (which houses hers and four other businesses) regularly leaks in heavy rain.

Her claims were supported by dark stains, visible on the concrete below where water repeatedly cascades through guttering.

She said that despite several times notifying the building owner, to her knowledge nothing had been done to rectify the problem.

“Instead, the entire building is up for sale,” she said.

With the Nambucca Valley containing many shop awnings which were built decades ago, this is an issue which will only become more pressing as time passes.

By Ned COWIE