Opal Tower engineers WSP blame builder Icon for major defects
Engineers who worked on the defect-ridden Opal Tower have hit back at accusations they are responsible for any of the $26.5m repair bill, instead claiming builders Icon knew of serious problems a year before residents moved in.
NSW
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Builders were aware of serious problems with the trouble-plagued Opal Tower almost a year before residents moved in, engineers claim.
And building company Icon was issued with a defect notice relating to a large concrete panel just days before people started living there, according to court documents in the escalating legal war resulting from a class action by unit owners against the NSW Government.
Icon is chasing WSP Structures for $26.5m in damages, claiming the damage was caused by shortcomings in the design that WSP either prepared or approved.
Icon says that its construction works did not causally contribute to that damage, or the extent of it.
In a scathing attack filed in the NSW Supreme Court late on Friday, engineering giant WSP hit back denying anything in their original plans contributed to the serious failure of the 36-storey apartment block in Sydney Olympic Park.
WSP has pointed the finger at builder Icon and subcontractor Evolution Precast Systems – the company Icon used to manufacture, supply and install the precast panels at the centre of the controversy.
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There had been about 300 people living in the 117m building, with residents living there since August 2018.
“In about late 2017 (about the time the building was ‘topped out’) Icon was aware that there had been a failure of a precast panel on level 10 … at which time patching was carried out,” WSP lawyers said in court documents.
“Icon failed to alert WSP to the failure of the precast panel, and to the patching, which was a failure by Icon to take reasonable care.”
The comments are contained in a cross claim against Icon as part of a class action court case launched by individual owners in strata plan 97315.
Compounding Icon’s alleged shortcomings, WSP says Icon was issued with a defects notice to patch and refinish the precast panel on level 10 on August 5, 2018 – days before the building was completed.
“Again, Icon failed to alert WSP to the damage to the precast panel, which was a failure by Icon to take reasonable care,” court documents said.
“Had Icon alerted WSP to the failure of the precast panel in about late 2017 … appropriate rectification measures would have been taken to rectify the grouting deficiencies throughout the whole of the building.”
The documents did not reveal how WSP knew that Icon was aware of the failures in the precast panel.
WSP also accused Evolution of “misleading or deceptive conduct” because of a failure to follow their designs.
An Evolution spokesman said: “The structural issues at Opal Tower occurred through the failure of the in-situ concrete hobs designed by WSP and constructed by others”.
“Any damage to precast panels occurred as a result of the failure of the hobs,” he said.
“The precast panels and joints were constructed in accordance with shop drawings approved by WSP.
“Evolution Precast will vigorously defend any claims made against it.”
Damage to the building on levels 4, 10 and 16 likely occurred with the progressive build-up of weight on the structure as people moved in, a report commissioned by then planning minister Anthony Roberts in February 2019 found.
All 392 apartments were made fit for occupation before Christmas 2019, however builder Icon claims it has forked out about $30m supporting residents with alternative accommodation, storage and other costs.
“This situation further highlights the complexity and adversity that owners are up against in trying to be compensated and move on with their lives,” Strata Community Australia NSW president Chris Duggan said.
“It reveals there is simply less and less certainty. Every time Opal Tower owners try to move forward there is simply more litigation.”
In July last year Opal Tower strata owners launched a class action case against the Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA), the NSW government agency owning the land where the tower was built.
SOPA then issued a cross-claim against developer Ecove and builder Icon, before Icon filed their own cross claim against WSP in December.
Structural failures at Opal Tower and Mascot Towers prompted the NSW Government to introduce ratings systems for professionals in the building industry and new powers to prevent occupation certificates from being issued on suspect developments.
The Design and Building Practitioners Bill, however, is currently held up in the NSW Upper House because of objections from Greens and Labor.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian also appointed Building Commissioner David Chandler in August 2019, tasked with regulating all aspects of the state’s building industry.
The lawyer representing strata owners, Chris Pagent, declined to comment.
An Icon spokeswoman said: “As we told the Supreme Court last year, the issues at Opal Tower resulted from design failures of the structural design engineer, WSP Structures”.
“WSP Structures prepared and approved all relevant structural designs,” she said.
“As the builder, Icon undertook construction based on WSP’s designs. We remain firmly of that view.“
Opal Towers tenant Caitlin Moussa, 21, said has been mostly unaffected by the construction work going on.
“I love where I live and I love my space,” she said.