defects

Sydney’s investor-grade towers crush their tenants and kill the city’s soul

2021-01-04T12:21:28+11:00

The small red car was illegally parked. A handwritten note read, “No power when we got home. No parks outside. Call Adrian…” That was from the night before, when it all began. Since early evening I’d had no hot water. Now, at 10am, I was locked out myself, barefoot, unwashed, on the street, in a thunderstorm, staring at the kerbside evidence of collective frustration. Not because I’d forgotten my keys, but [...]

Sydney’s investor-grade towers crush their tenants and kill the city’s soul2021-01-04T12:21:28+11:00

Builder’s collapse leaves apartment owners fearing alleged $30m defects bill

2021-01-06T13:47:39+11:00

Hundreds of Sydney apartment owners are facing an uncertain future after the collapse of a company linked to the builder of the Opal Tower, with allegations that it collectively owes them $30 million to repair seven defective builds across the city. The revelations come as another high-profile construction group, Ganellen, placed one of its companies into administration last week, midway through a court battle over defects and only days after it [...]

Builder’s collapse leaves apartment owners fearing alleged $30m defects bill2021-01-06T13:47:39+11:00

‘Impossible’: Mascot Towers stores given seven days to leave over safety fears

2020-12-14T11:27:55+11:00

13 December 2020 Businesses at the base of Sydney's harrowed Mascot Towers have been caught between the directives of a government minister and the building's owners corporation, which has given them a week's notice to vacate over safety issues. The owners of seven shops say they will lose everything if they are forced to close a week before Christmas, following a letter from the lawyers for the owners regarding unstable facades [...]

‘Impossible’: Mascot Towers stores given seven days to leave over safety fears2020-12-14T11:27:55+11:00

NSW Stops Short of Paying for Cladding Rectification

2020-11-30T12:17:39+11:00

18 NOVEMBER 2020 Owners of buildings with flammable cladding in NSW will still need to pay tens of thousands of dollars per apartment to rectify their complexes after the NSW Government refused to Victoria’s lead in paying for flammable cladding to be rectified. Whilst the preference would be for the government to pay for the cost of remediation, Karen Stiles, Executive Officer for OCN welcomed both the announcement of the low [...]

NSW Stops Short of Paying for Cladding Rectification2020-11-30T12:17:39+11:00

Interest-free loans part of $1b program to fix NSW’s cladding crisis

2020-11-17T12:11:30+11:00

17 NOVEMBER 2020 Apartment owners forced to replace flammable cladding on high-risk buildings across NSW will be able to access interest-free loans as part of a $1 billion government program over the next three years aimed at helping to resolve the crisis. The program, which will be unveiled in the state budget on Tuesday, includes $139 million to establish and offer technical support to owners for the remediation of at-risk buildings. [...]

Interest-free loans part of $1b program to fix NSW’s cladding crisis2020-11-17T12:11:30+11:00

David Chandler on the need for buildings that don’t harm the environment, or people

2020-11-16T10:29:28+11:00

12 November 2020 The construction industry must deliver buildings that don’t harm people physically, emotionally or economically, and that have a small environmental footprint, if it wants to win back consumer confidence, says NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, who will be speaking at The Fifth Estate’s Building Circularity event in two weeks. The industry must start cutting embodied carbon in building projects, and could one day be subject to pricing signals [...]

David Chandler on the need for buildings that don’t harm the environment, or people2020-11-16T10:29:28+11:00

Opal Towers: McKenzie Group and building watchdog had secret deal

2020-11-09T17:33:48+11:00

3 November 2020 The certifiers who passed the notorious Opal Towers as fit to live in have had a finding of professional misconduct against them downgraded in a secret deal with the very government body meant to protect homeowners. The agreement between the Building Professionals Board and certifiers McKenzie Group Consulting was approved by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal with the terms to remain “confidential”, The Daily Telegraph can reveal. [...]

Opal Towers: McKenzie Group and building watchdog had secret deal2020-11-09T17:33:48+11:00

Stink of politicians and property developers hard to wash away

2020-10-22T15:16:54+11:00

21 OCTOBER 2020 We had no idea how far the disease had spread until the autopsy was carried out. We’d known something was wrong because there was no mistaking that pungent smell of rot and decay. But when we peered into those dark cavities after the first incision was made and the fragile skin had been peeled back, the full horror of it all became clear. By then, the culprit was long [...]

Stink of politicians and property developers hard to wash away2020-10-22T15:16:54+11:00

A Better Deal for Strata – Consumer Protection – Building Defects update

2020-10-06T21:53:48+11:00

SEPTEMBER 2020 Building defects remain a major problem for owners of new strata dwellings and also pose high levels of risk for those purchasing apartments off the plan. This OCN policy update summarises the main regulatory changes being either proposed or enacted in NSW to address the systemic causes of building defects and improve consumer protections. It also gives a summary of OCN advocacy on the issue, and our current recommendations [...]

A Better Deal for Strata – Consumer Protection – Building Defects update2020-10-06T21:53:48+11:00

‘In limbo land’: Apartment owners in bind over flammable cladding fix

2020-09-21T21:23:38+10:00

17 SEPTEMBER 2020 A drawn out saga over replacing flammable cladding has soured relations between owners of a southern Sydney apartment building and imposed a large financial burden on them. Yet almost 18 months after their local council ordered cladding to be removed, some owners of the Quattro Apartments at Gymea fear the material they plan to use to replace it won't comply in future because the state government is still [...]

‘In limbo land’: Apartment owners in bind over flammable cladding fix2020-09-21T21:23:38+10:00
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