Opal Tower builder and developer in legal dispute over costs
The builder and the developer behind the Opal building have been in a bitter court spat over payments. The building’s developer Ecove fought the builder Icon in the NSW Supreme Court over a $2.5m payment for work Icon completed.
The builder and the developer behind the Opal building have been in a bitter court spat over payments.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the building’s developer Ecove fought the builder Icon in the NSW Supreme Court over a $2.5 million payment for work Icon completed on the tower.
Icon, which is backed by the Japanese construction giant Kajima Corp, sought $2.5 million for works undertaken on the last stages of the tower, winning judgment only last Friday in the NSW Court of Appeal.
Ecove was also ordered to pay Icon’s legal costs.
The dispute was over backcharge items and the paperwork process, not the quality of work.
The developer had argued that the backcharges should be taken off the contract sum because there had been reductions to the scope and price of the works.
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The contract between Ecove and Icon was signed in October 2015 and was worth $155 million.
Ecove, which is run by Bassam Aflak and Michael Azar, lost another legal battle over a land tax bill from Revenue NSW in July.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled its 2014 development agreement with the Sydney Olympic Park Authority provided for a construction lease, rather than a licence to access the land. The annual quantum of tax was unclear but was estimated to be close to $1 million.
Ecove had previously built three towers at Sydney Olympic Park and most recently was granted development rights over another site for a proposed 4.5 star hotel of 270 rooms and 200 serviced apartments.
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