NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler slams Sydney apartment block repairs

A five-year battle to get structural problems in a Sydney unit block repaired has resulted in cosmetic fixes described by the NSW building boss as ‘lipstick on a pig’.

A “fault line” between the two carpark ceiling slabs of a “luxury” apartment complex-turned-building horror show in Sydney’s leafy northern suburbs has become so wide that daylight beams through from the floor above.

Numerous steel support beams, surrounded by tapes labelled “caution”, have been brought in to hold the 10m by 10m wide slabs in place.

But even the concrete slab the steel supports are sitting on is riddled with cracks.

In another section of the ceiling, the concrete is visibly crumbling.

In a half-hearted attempt to fix the problem, builders have tacked on a makeshift gutter to catch water dripping through the gap — although the attached drain pipe literally goes nowhere.

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler inspects the apartment block in Sydney’s north. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Like putting lipstick on a pig,” says NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler of the attempted “fix” as he shakes the suspended drain pipe.

“The pins connecting these two slabs appear not to have been installed, so what is happening here is one slab has dropped about 20-30 millimetres lower than the other,” he said.

“So these props are here to make sure the slab doesn’t keep going. That is a structural failure.

“And when the slab dropped, it caused the joints to fail so then water started to falling through the thing.

“So then they put a gutter in, but part of the guttering has now collapsed.

“The drains are also not hooked up to the drainage system. It’s discharged on the floor below.”

One of the gaps between two concrete slabs. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The engineer who signed off on the project is known to Mr Chandler, who describes him as a “frequent flyer” of issues with his work.

“We’ve already had him referred,” Mr Chandler says.

Further down into the carpark, brackets line the roof of a ramp, providing further makeshift support for the failing slab.

Mr Chandlers blames developers pressuring engineers to “do things on the cheap” — and compliant engineers — for many of the problems he sees in NSW apartment buildings, and he is determined to “make their business models impossible”.

“The engineer on this job makes an art form of cheap,” he said.

Steel support beams, wrapped in tape labelled ‘caution’, have been brought in to hold the concrete slabs in place. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Constructed just over five years ago, the building is among hundreds of apartment complexes — comprising around 20,000 units — that Mr Chandler and his team have inspected since his appointment as the state’s first building commission in 2019.

Enabled by the “super powers” the NSW government granted him with the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act to hold developers to account for their shoddy work, Mr Chandler says he believes the sector is finally getting the message.

In the case of these luxury apartments, Mr Chandler said a waterproofer tipped him off to the shoddy work in the building, with the commissioner using his “anywhere, any time” powers to turn up and inspect any common areas of the property.

The building will now become part of the new “project intervene” scheme where Mr Chandler and his team can bypass the courts to engage directly with the developer to fix flaws — a move welcomed by Owners Corporation Network head Karen Stiles, who said developers often went belly-up before a legal case was resolved.

Last Friday, the developer agreed as part of an enforceable undertaking to fix the building.

“We’ve had five years of litigation here and there hasn’t been a single step for mankind — all that’s been done is cosmetic fixes,” Mr Chandler says.

“You can have litigation drag on forever as the building just gets worse and worse.

“Because of the litigation, the developer has been denied access. I said ‘I have access. Let’s get on with it. I just want this fixed’.”

Another area of concern noted by Mr Chandler. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Despite the odd threat or attempt at intimidation — he once had a drone crash land into his seventh-floor office window — Mr Chandler says he plans to step up inspections to up to eight a month, with the enforcement action also soon to be made public as a further disincentive to developers trying to cut corners.

Developers also must give a 10-year structural guarantee “and a significant bank guarantee to sit behind that 10 year undertaking”.

Other new powers bestowed upon the team enable building designs to be audited in the architect’s office, such as ensuring draining pipes are organised “to avoid seeing what we are seeing today”.

It is not just dodgy developers that make Mr Chandler cranky, he also has a problem with Engineers Australia — an organisation he says does not hold its members to account, and one he wants to become “professional”.

“I want Engineers Australia to come down here and look at this. I’ve sent them pictures,” he says.

“I want them to tell me what they’re going to do about holding members accountable going in to the future.

“How come the engineer signed off on this job in the first place?”

Since shining the torch on shoddy buildings after being made the state’s first building commissioner in 2019, Mr Chandler says he is finally seeing “green shoots”.

“When I came in, 60 per cent of developers and builders were trustworthy, their buildings were always fine,” he says.

“The next 20 per cent were well-intended, but may not have had the skill sets to do what they’re doing, and so if you took your eye off them, they may do something silly.

“It’s the next 20 per cent that I have been focusing on. And they know who they are.

“They’re the ones over-represented in the number of buildings with serious defects.

“But I think they’re realising that’s not the way home any more.”

Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello likened Mr Chandler to “Mr Gordon”, the fictional police commissioner of Gotham City in the TV series Batman.

“There are a number of developers that are accruing frequent flyer points,” Mr Dominello said.

“We have given the commissioner all the power he needs to make sure he holds them to account.

“Gotham City has Mr Gordon, we’ve got David Chandler.”

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]