The Victorian government has banned the "most dangerous types" of combustible cladding from being used on Victorian buildings.

Minister for Planning Richard Wynne revealed new ministerial guidelines for buildings where people sleep or gather, a move that was a key recommendation of the Victorian Cladding Taskforce's report, which was released in December last year.

Aluminium cladding panels with a polyethylene core of greater than 30 per cent will be banned on all buildings more than three stories high.

Expanded polystyrene will also be banned.

Wynne said, “We’re putting a stop to dangerous combustible cladding being used on Victorian buildings. This has been allowed to go on for too long and we’re ending it.”

Wynne has directed the Victorian Building Authority to issue a product safety alert. Builders who ignore the directive will face disciplinary action from the VBA, and could attract fines of up to $400,000 and, in extreme cases, imprisonment.

Last year, the Victorian state government established the Victorian Cladding Taskforce to investigate the extent that non-compliant cladding was being used on Victorian buildings. The taskforce, which is chaired by former premier Ted Baillieu and deputy premier John Thwaites, handed down its initial report in December.

The taskforce originally identified 1,369 buildings as being likely to have potentially dangerous cladding, but that number is declining.

If buildings are found to be non-compliant, the VBA and Municipal Building Surveyors issue emergency orders, allowing additional measures to be put in place to ensure stringent safety standards.

“The rules are clear: if builders use these dangerous flammable products, they’ll face disciplinary action from the VBA," said Wynn.

Read the Victorian Cladding Taskforce's interim report from December 2017.

Read more about flammable cladding in Victoria:

Property industry supports ban on 100% polyethylene core cladding

Australian suppliers sold cladding they knew was flammable: Four Corners

Flammable cladding in high rise? It’s time to revisit issues for buyers and existing owners