Another Sydney Strata Structural Failure

Or, is a strata building a top place to live in anymore ....

For more than 25 years I’ve pursued strata developers and builders over strata building defects, but whilst they affected building compliance and strata owners’ and residents’ amenity, they could still live in their apartments. That seems to have changed and I wonder what’s going on …

[6:00 minutes estimated reading time, 1191 words]

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Introduction

Yesterday I wrote about the problem of ageing strata buildings around the world with structural deterioration that strata owners and others were ignoring in ‘Petty Squabbles in Strata Buildings: Or, is [strata] Rome burning, whilst its Neros fiddle …’ and the challenges that posed for everyone.

I also said about the Australian strata experience that:

“we haven’t had a strata building collapse due to ageing or deteriorating structures [athough we have had other collapses, partial collapses, and structural problems in strata buildings]”

It looks like that was rather prescient, as less than 12 hours later the SMH was reporting in the article ‘Apartment tower given temporary reprieve after engineer’s warnings of collapse’ by Matt O’Sullivan that another new[ish] Sydney strata building might have to be evacuated because of major structural defects.

Since this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen, it’s pretty newsworthy apart from the personal dilemmas it creates for the strata owners and residents.

What’s happened and is happening at Vicinity?

• A 6-year-old, 10-storey, 276 apartment strata building in the Vicinity Complex developed structural cracks.

• Structural engineers advised the strata building that there were a ‘magnitude of support deficiencies’, ‘loss of structural robustness, and, ‘an absence of fundamental structural members’ that created ‘a risk to occupants’ and to adjoining buildings if there was a collapse.

• The developer/builder, Toplace, disputes the engineering advice.

• The strata building has not made a decision about what to do, apparently leaving it to government officials to decide whether it should be evacuated or not.

• Strata owners and residents have prepared for evacuation.

• The NSW Building Commissioner’s team inspected the building saying that Public Works Advisory had advised that there was “no immediate safety risk” to strata residents.

• The NSW Building Commissioner will now review the materials gathered during the investigation before deciding what else to do.

It’s all pretty grim regardless of whether or not there are serious structural flaws, that we’ve seen played out a few times before at Opal Tower, Mascot Towers, and Skyview 960 [all of which I’ve written about before] with less than satisfactory outcomes.

What might happen at Vicinity?

I don’t know what will happen at this strata building, but if history is a guide here are a few possibilities based on what we’ve seen happen before.

None of them are great outcomes for the key strata stakeholders; the strata owners and strata residents.

1. Nothing will happen immediately as everyone disagrees about the structural issues and no-one requires the evacuation of the strata building. So, worried owners and residents are left in place or to leave and any strata defect claim the building may have gets pursued.

That’s the position most strata buildings and strata owners/residents are in when their building has construction defects.

It’s not great and since this building is [reportedly] 6 years old they may have time limit claim problems.

2. After further investigation, a decision is made by authorities to evacuate the building due to the risk until someone undertakes the necessary structural repairs to make it safe. Exactly who will do that work [the developer/builder or the strata building] depends on many things that can’t be predicted here. But, it’s unlikely to happen quickly.

At Opal Tower, the developer did the work but it took a year and there’s now legal action for losses.

And, at Mascot Towers, the work hasn’t been done by anyone and the building remains empty and its future remains unresolved whilst the NSW Government pays residents alternative accommodation costs.

In both situations, strata owners are wearing significant losses that they may never recover.

3. The NSW Building Commissioner does a deal with the builder/developer about the structural issues that involve a compromise involving a bit of work, ongoing monitoring, and some security for future issues.

That’s what happened at Skyview 960 with the same developer/builder [Toplace], so you’d have to think it’s likely they’ll use that as a template.

But, it’s not clear if that’s even possible since the Vicinity building was finished a long time ago and there’s no occupation certificate to use as leverage. And, this time there’s an existing strata corporation that will get a say in any such deal.

So, it’s a little more difficult in this situation.

So, how good is owning a strata apartment?

I’ve said more than a few times, that we need to make strata ownership and living a first choice [not second choice] option for people.

That won’t happen whilst these kinds of situations develop and the solutions are not quick, clear, and helpful. That seems unlikely here.

Imagine being one of the owners or residents in Vicinity: having been advised the building is structurally unsound and could collapse by an expert, seeing the builder/developer say they are wrong, and, then having the government say it’s okay for now but we’re going to do more checking and investigation.

The SMH article tells that story in relation to one strata owner and her dilemma better than I can. In fact, she sagely describes her predicament as follows:

“We don’t feel safe and comfortable in our own home anymore,”

and

“It’s very stressful. It seems like everything that is wrong with the building industry has coalesced into this.”

Plus, her photograph [reproduced below] is a poignant image that represents many strata owners’ dilemmas when they are in buildings with defects and don’t know what to do.

I wouldn’t want to be her, and I’m sure, nor would any of my readers.

Further relevant reading

Since the issues for the Vicinity building are not new, I’ve written about them in the following articles if you’d like to read more on the topics and issues.

Round 3 for the NSW Building Commissioner: Watching this major & early strata building defects dispute play out has lessons for the future ...

Rounds 4 & 5 for the NSW Building Commissioner: Strata defects victories in NSW or, is it just a new strata owners shell game …

Strata Defects Whistleblowers: Is the future direction for defective strata buildings in the hands of whistleblowers ...

Serious Structural Faults: The New Normal in Strata Buildings: The latest strata building in the news highlights difficult building defect issues …

Here's Your Strata Defect Gift [that keeps on taking]: Will Skyview 960 inherit both the defects & monitoring obligations ...

The Saga of NSW Strata Defect Claims: Or, is this the real tragedy of the common[s] property …

Conclusions

No-one looks good in strata when we see these situations develop.

But, it’s even worse when strata stakeholders don’t know what to do or the solutions are unclear, slow, and uncertain. That’s especially so when the problem of strata buildings with serious defects is not new, happens repeatedly and has major impacts.

That uncertainty leaves the key strata stakeholders [the strata owners and residents] lacking confidence in the whole system of strata title property ownership and living. And, as a result, keeping it as a ‘second choice’ investment and living option.

October 14, 2021

Francesco …