Critical defects discovered in an apartment complex in Sydney’s north-west

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A four-tower development with 900 apartments in Sydney's north-west is "at threat of collapse" after the state building commission found defects in the load-bearing concrete.

Transcript

00:00 The NSW Building Commission said that there was serious damage to a concrete slab in the

00:07 basement and ground floor levels of this precinct behind me here, adding that there was also

00:12 a threat of collapse.

00:15 Today the NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler spoke to ABC Radio Sydney and said

00:19 while there was a set of circumstances that need to be fixed, there is absolutely no threat

00:25 of collapse.

00:27 He said the commission was obliged to use the language that's provided in the legislation

00:32 in making these decisions.

00:34 Now the order was widely reported in the media and prompted the residential building's strata

00:38 manager to send out a letter refuting the threat of collapse and said they were in the

00:43 process of obtaining an explanation from the building commissioner as to where they got

00:48 the evidence from.

00:49 Now no doubt it's been a frustrating back and forth for residents, some who say the

00:54 poor communication meant they only found out about the issues through the media and that

00:58 it's been quite an anxious wait for information.

01:01 Take a listen to what one resident had to say.

01:03 The fact that we found out by the media I think is really poor form.

01:07 I think, I mean since apparently, well I believe they've known this issue since about August

01:12 last year and now we finally get an email from the building management this morning

01:19 obviously trying to get in front of the narrative, discrediting the building commission, telling

01:23 us not to speak to the media.

01:24 I don't know where they get that authority from but anyway, I just think that's poor

01:28 form, it's just really bad communication.

01:30 The Greenland Group have been given two months to scan that concrete slab and commission

01:35 an engineering report and eight months to fix the situation.

01:40 Here at the precinct though, at Macquarie Park, it's been business as usual with customers

01:44 using this car park behind me here regularly.

01:48 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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