As summer officially kicks off, the Victorian Building Authority is urging homeowners with balconies to make sure they are safe before enjoying a barbecue with friends and family.
State Building Surveyor at the VBA, Andrew Cialini said balconies could be a serious safety risk if not properly built and looked after.
“Before you have visitors over, make sure you take a look at your balcony and check if it is structurally sound and safe,” Mr Cialini said.
“Your balcony may not have been designed to support so much extra weight and, in combination with poor maintenance, if it becomes overloaded it could result in a tragedy,” he said.
“Timber balconies can be impacted by insect attack and decay while concrete balconies can be made unsafe when concrete cracks and flakes or when reinforcement corrodes, often due to moisture.”
Mr Cialini said simple things like re-tensioning tension wire balustrades, checking and tightening fixings and treating signs of corrosion greatly improved the long-term safety of balcony balustrades.
The State Building Surveyor said Victorians should look for signs of wear and tear or moisture ingress on their balconies.
“There are many things that can affect the structural integrity of a balcony, deck or balustrade, such as overloading, termites, wet rot and corrosive effects,” he said.
“A correctly designed and maintained balcony should take these risk factors into account, but we urge owners and tenants to carry out visual inspections yearly to protect themselves and their guests.”
Mr Cialini said it was also important for owners to be aware of the load capacity or total mass that their deck or balcony was designed to carry.
He said the information could be found by consulting the original specifications of the build or having a professional engineer, or registered building practitioner, conduct an assessment.
Mr Cialini said people should look out for warning signs such as puddles of water at the base of posts; puddles of water on the deck or balcony surface; rotting or loose balustrades; loose or rusted brackets and bolts; cracked concrete or signs of leaning; cracked or weak mortar in brick structures; and dislodged brickwork/masonry.
