Opal Tower high-rise apartment block builder Icon has 48 hours to satisfy inquiry

The construction firm responsible for building the Opal Tower has been given 48 hours to hand over a detailed list of all materials used in the high-rise apartment block.

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The construction firm responsible for building the Opal Tower has been given 48 hours to hand over a detailed list of all materials used in the high-rise apartment block.

UNSW engineer Mark Hoffman — one of two independent experts appointed by the state government to investigate — has demanded answers from builder Icon to a lengthy list of questions.

Professor Hoffman will require the builder to outline every action taken in the construction of the cracked panels along the atrium, which sparked the Christmas Eve evacuation.

“People are expecting us to move fast but we also have to be very thorough,” he said.

Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean speaks to the media on Sunday. Picture: AAP

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A small army of 50 tradies were on site over the weekend scaling the building to assess hundreds of concrete panels used within the atrium.

Cracks appeared in panels on the 10th floor atrium at the southern end of the building and construction crews now need to check at least 230 concrete panels to see if they are also defective.

Residents spoke of hearing loud cracking noises sparking fears the building was close to collapsing.

The Opal Tower fiasco has focused attention on private building certifiers. Picture: Tim Pascoe

Preliminary investigations have determined the building’s structural integrity is sound but engineers have not yet found the cause of the defects.

One unit owner who bought off the plan for $760,000 told The Daily Telegraph he was distraught knowing his investment had lost value.

“My life savings are wrapped up in this and it is pretty much unsellable,” he said.

“I can’t even live in it and I still need to make my mortgage repayments … someone needs to be held responsible for this mess because we are all going to lose out.”

Opal Tower resident Bill Badie, who lives on level 11, took a photo of cracking in the building.

Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean yesterday outlined his plan to tackle perceived corruption within the private certification industry and blamed previous Labor governments for setting up the system with no oversight from government.

Every year 30 per cent of the industry will be publicly audited and Mr Kean promised to ban any corrupt or negligent certifiers from working

Minister for Planning and Housing Anthony Roberts speaks to media on Sunday. Picture: AAP

“Developers doing the wrong thing should be on notice — if they’re working with their certifier mates to push shabby buildings through then we will rub them out of the industry,” Mr Kean said.

“The problems in the certification industry were created by Labor with the botched privatisation leaving the industry open to cowboys.

“It’s time for the cowboys to go.”

A name and shame register will also be made public so people can check their building’s certifier and the quality of their work.

NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said he has had multiple conversations with developer Ecove and had instructed the company to spare no expense in looking after the welfare of the Opal Tower residents.

“The developer and builder have ensured that every person that has been moved from that building has and will continue to have accommodation during this period,” he said.