A Senate committee has called for a total ban on the use of flammable cladding in the wake of London's Grenfell Tower fire that killed at least 80 people.
The Labor-dominated inquiry into non-conforming building products has tabled an interim report in parliament on Wednesday calling for an urgent ban on the importation, sale and use of polyethylene core aluminium composite panels.
The cladding is allowed to be used in low-rise buildings but should no longer be used at all in Australia, it said.
"In light of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, the committee does not consider there to be any legitimate use of PE core ACPs on any building type," the report said.
The inquiry found building regulations were inadequate and that greater enforcement of existing rules was needed.
It also recommended the federal government establish a national licensing scheme requiring continued professional development for all builders, inspectors, surveyors and project managers.
Committee chair, Labor's Chris Ketter, said the committee heard evidence that building surveyors were only conducting visual inspections and were unable to verify whether cladding used on buildings was fire resistant.
"It seems that cost dominates many of the decisions taken in the building industry to the detriment of end consumers and the wider public," he told parliament.
"No matter where you turn in this industry you can find people trying to evade their responsibilities."
Labor colleague Kim Carr likened the cladding to asbestos, insisting it was too dangerous to be allowed.
Crossbench senator Nick Xenophon said urgent action was needed.
"Why would we have our buildings, our public buildings where Australians reside in them, and work in them, where families live in them - why would we have any of those buildings effectively wrapped in petrol?" he told parliament.
In a dissenting report, government senators opposed the recommendation to ban the combustible cladding, while acknowledging there were genuine concerns about its use.
"Banning an individual product will not solve the issue; however consideration should be given to mechanisms to ensure better identification and evidence of suitability for use of these materials along the supply chain," they said.
