3 JULY 2019
Owners of apartments in the Mascot Towers development will be left with a hefty bill to repair structural damage as the building is too old to fall under warranty, with property experts calling for better consumer protections. Residents were forced to evacuate the 10-storey Sydney building on Friday night after major cracks appeared in its beams. Temporary building props were installed in the carpark earlier in the week due to the “rapid deterioration” of cracks within a primary support beam, residents were told. Under NSW law, building defects are covered under warranty for six years after completion of a development. Stephen Goddard, spokesman for the Owners Corporation Network — an advocacy group for owners in strata schemes — said owners of apartments in the decade-old Mascot Towers development were no longer covered by the statutory warranty period and would now be left with a hefty bill. “Consumers have nowhere to go in these sorts of situations, there’s nobody for them to sue, there’s nowhere for them to turn,” Mr Goddard said.
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Bellinda Kontominas & Antonette Collins