Highgate: Morris Property Group said it was working through any issues with the owners corporation. Photo: Region.
The Highgate apartment tower in the city has been referred to the regulator due to safety issues raised in a report that the builder/developer has labelled alarmist.
The 2023 report from engineering consultancy Bligh Tanner alleged dozens of building defects, including unsafe balconies where it warned of loading issues and glass that could eject or shatter.
Morris Property Group said a review it commissioned into the report found the balconies were safe and challenged a number of other alleged defects. Morris said it was working through any issues with the owners corporation.
It had already undertaken multiple inspections and carried out isolated rectification works at the request of individual owners.
However, Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction Rebecca Vassarotti said that given the seriousness of the safety claims, her team in the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate had referred the matter to Access Canberra for assessment.
Ms Vassarotti said Access Canberra had not received any complaints about the balconies at the property but urged people who are affected to talk to the builder first about any issues they have.
She said the owners corporation could also submit a complaint to Access Canberra, and if defects were found, the regulator had the power to require the builder to fix them.
“I do expect that where defects are identified in buildings, the builder and developer will come together to fix these defects proactively and quickly and make sure that homeowners are not left to deal with these problems,” Ms Vassarotti said.
She said there were statutory warranty provisions to protect unit owners against defective building work up to six years after the completion of a building.
The strata manager at the time, Vantage Strata, commissioned the Bligh Tanner report because the six-year mark for making defect claims was nearing.
The Highgate issue again raises the use of private certifiers in large residential building projects, something the ACT Government promised to address in response to the 2020 report of the Inquiry into Building Quality in the ACT.
The government committed to establishing an expert team of publicly funded building certifiers within the ACT Public Service during this term, but time is running out to do this.
Ms Vassarotti said she would announce this in the coming months after the government engaged external experts to help assess the building certification system and provide possible options, including public certifiers.
“This work on certification will complement the work we are already undertaking to implement a nation-leading Developer Licensing Scheme, which will remove any incentive for property developers to install favourable certifiers and make sure that developers are personally liable for building defects,” she said.
“This work is going ahead and is expected to be debated in the ACT Legislative Assembly in June.”
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