builders & certification

Sydney’s dirty strata secrets emerge through cracks in Mascot Towers

2020-10-08T12:15:53+11:00

3 JULY 2019 The masonry at Mascot Towers isn't the only thing cracking in Sydney this week. The entire edifice of silence and self-interest which has encouraged government and the market to turn a blind eye to the true extent of building defects in new strata developments is crumbling. For 20 years, new residential strata schemes have been plagued with building defects. According to one estimate, 80 per cent of all [...]

Sydney’s dirty strata secrets emerge through cracks in Mascot Towers2020-10-08T12:15:53+11:00

Buyer interest plummets as Sydney’s failing high-rises trigger headlines

2020-10-08T12:23:34+11:00

2 JULY 2019 Sydney residents were evacuated from their Mascot Towers homes in June after cracks appeared in their walls, in an incident that echoed Christmas Eve’s Opal Tower evacuation in Sydney’s Olympic Park area. The images of confused residents milling outside the troubled towers with pets and belongings in their arms have come to represent New South Wales’ high-rise housing crisis. Nearly all (97 per cent) of new high-rise apartment [...]

Buyer interest plummets as Sydney’s failing high-rises trigger headlines2020-10-08T12:23:34+11:00

Apartments can be great water savers – instead of wasters

2020-10-08T12:40:21+11:00

20 MAY 2019 Everyone’s talking about water again this week. Sydney Water has announced level one restrictions, high-security water pricing in the Murray region has reached around $175,000 for an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of the stuff and some towns in Barnaby Joyce’s New England electorate face the very real prospect of running out in the coming months. But these issues are literally a drop in the harbour compared to the [...]

Apartments can be great water savers – instead of wasters2020-10-08T12:40:21+11:00

32 Canberra construction sites shut down

2020-10-08T12:44:25+11:00

10 APRIL 2019 The ACT government has temporarily shut down 32 construction sites in the past three months, as part of a renewed crackdown on dodgy building work. Access Canberra's building regulators have also inspected 180 sites since the start of the year, as it attempts to shake a widely-held perception that it's failed to respond to the problems plaguing Canberra's construction sector. Release of the figures comes as the ACT [...]

32 Canberra construction sites shut down2020-10-08T12:44:25+11:00

Labor Promises Strata Commissioner to Tackle Defects

2020-10-06T22:30:45+11:00

6 MARCH 2019 A dedicated Strata Commissioner to protect apartment owners and residents and restore confidence in the strata sector will be introduced by the Labor Party, should it win office at the upcoming state election. “A commissioner solely focussed on strata is long overdue,” says Phil Gall, chair of OCN, which is running a seminar on cladding issues on March 16 in Sydney. “Fair Trading is overloaded with concerns that [...]

Labor Promises Strata Commissioner to Tackle Defects2020-10-06T22:30:45+11:00

Better Deal for Strata – Commissioner for Strata Living

2020-10-06T21:55:13+11:00

28 FEBRUARY 2019 February 28, 2019 With around 1.2 million people in NSW now living in strata communities, OCN has urged the NSW State Government to ensure the sector’s interests are properly addressed through establishing a Commissioner for Strata Living and affiliated policy and strategy office. This role and office would ensure concerns including consumer rights, regulatory impacts and effective stakeholder consultation are handled effectively. OCN has also suggested crucial services [...]

Better Deal for Strata – Commissioner for Strata Living2020-10-06T21:55:13+11:00
Go to Top