A group of residents at an apartment complex in Canterbury, NSW have taken out a loan to pay for the installation of temporary support columns to reinforce the building after an engineer raised concerns about structural integrity.

The development, titled Vicinity, comprises 276 apartments over three buildings. Developers Toplace disagreed that the supports were needed, with the residents opting against the developer’s position.

State government engineers recommended that the supports be put in place immediately. They cost $50,000 to install, with owners required to pay a combined $135,000 a year to maintain them.

The building in question was assessed by a structural engineer hired by the owners. The engineer found that if the support structures were not put in place that the potential collapse could seriously damage the other two buildings in the complex. This in turn led the state government to undertake their own inspections, which recommended a transfer structure which evens out the weight loads.

“In the background there seems to have been some acknowledgement that there might be a safety issue with the building and the back-propping has been put in place to ensure the safety of residents,” apartment owner Corrie Ford tells the Sydney Morning Herald.

Engineering firm Bright & Duggan was made the strata manager by an independent tribunal. Managing Director Chris Duggan says it was the decision of the owners to take the safe option.

“We are not taking risks. We believe it is the developer’s responsibility. Toplace is ultimately the party that is responsible for the quality of the building. But we are not going to wait for them to do it. We will attempt to get the costs back for the temporary propping,” he says.

An independent engineer hired by Toplace came to the conclusion that there was no need to take immediate action. No cracks were found as part of the inspection, and following a below-ground radar scan, the developer indicated that the claim for immediate safety works by the owners was off the mark.

The state government ordered Toplace to begin rectification work on the load-bearing walls in the carpark earlier this year, which was the second time the developer had been hit with an order to rectify issues. The owners have taken legal action against Toplace to force the developer to cover the costs of the columns.

Architecture & Design Team

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