A private school in Sydney's west has been accused of putting the lives of students at risk with a "defective" second-storey school building that did not have sprinklers, a fire hydrant or emergency lighting and posed a "very significant risk of fire".
Rissalah College – an Islamic school that teaches more than 500 primary school students at Lakemba – has been sued by its former landlord in the NSW Supreme Court over allegations the school broke its lease and owes more than $120,000 in unpaid rent.
Rissalah College is being sued in the NSW Supreme Court. Pictured is its new school site.Credit: Edwina Pickles
The school is accused of leaving its former premises at 291 Haldon Street, Lakemba, "dirty and littered" with peeling paint and broken glass when it moved to a new school site at the end of 2010. It is further accused of failing to have development approval when it built a computer room at its former site.
The landlord, Five Bright Stars Pty Ltd, alleges the school breached its lease by failing to comply with fire safety requirements, and by failing to use due care, skill and material suitable for purpose when a second storey was added to "Building C" at Haldon Street.
In court documents, the school has denied all of the allegations.
When the case was mentioned in court this year, Five Bright Stars' barrister Michael Elliott, SC, said Rissalah "left the premises in an appalling condition" when it vacated the site, and did not rectify "defective structural additions" to Building C.
Mr Elliott said Building C posed "a very significant risk of fire" and put "the lives of the children at the school at risk".
In a statement of claim, the landlord seeks a range of orders including damages, interest and costs.
Building certifier City Plan Services Pty Ltd and its managing director Brendan John Bennett are also being sued in the case after they allegedly certified Building C as being fit for occupation in April 2007.
It is alleged the certifier failed to identify that the building was not suitable for occupation because it "exposed the school children and staff ... to an unacceptably high risk of death or injury in the event of a fire".
The landlord alleges the external walls of the building were made from non-fire-rated timber stud instead of cavity brick, which was supposed to be used; did not have fire hydrants or hose reels; did not have emergency lighting; did not have wall-wetting sprinklers; and had other irregularities including inconsistent treads and risers on the stairs.
In court documents, City Plan Services and Mr Bennett say the company provided a professional service and "acted in a manner that was widely accepted in Australia by peers and professional opinion as competent professional practice".
City Plan Services and Mr Bennett do not agree they are liable for any loss or damage, but if the court finds otherwise they say the landlord "caused or materially contributed to the loss" through negligence, by failing to supervise the construction of Building C or check the qualifications of the builder.
In August 2012, Canterbury Council allegedly ordered that the building remain vacant and have its services disconnected until defects were fixed. According to Five Bright Stars, the council also ordered that the unauthorised computer room be demolished.
Rissalah ceased using the site in about November 2010.
A four-week trial, set down for February 2020, is expected to hear evidence from a series of witnesses, including building experts and fire safety experts.
The case will return to court in July.