Opal Towers: McKenzie Group and building watchdog had secret deal
An opposition spokeswoman said she was “completely shocked” at the lack of transparency of a deal done between the building watchdog and Opal Tower certifiers.
NSW
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The certifiers who passed the notorious Opal Towers as fit to live in have had a finding of professional misconduct against them downgraded in a secret deal with the very government body meant to protect homeowners.
The agreement between the Building Professionals Board and certifiers McKenzie Group Consulting was approved by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal with the terms to remain “confidential”, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
The decision came as a total surprise to the owners of the 392 apartments in Sydney Olympic Park evacuated at Christmas 2018 amid fears the 36-storey building could collapse.
“How can we have confidence in these certifiers and the building industry if the tribunals that are supposed to protect out interest are not revealing the reasons for decisions?” chair of the building’s body corporate and Opal apartment owner, Shady Eskander, said.
“It is in the interests of the public and the industry to ensure that certifiers are discourage from misconduct and it should not be done behind closed doors.”
He said he knew McKenzie Group had been found guilty of professional misconduct but no-one had told the owners that they had appealed.
Opposition building reform spokeswoman Yasmin Catley said she was “completely shocked”.
“I’m concerned at the lack of transparency here,” Ms Catley said.
“These are very serious matters. The certification of building is a very important civic role and I am astonished that something as serious as downgrading a finding of professional misconduct is done without transparency. It is not good enough.”
The McKenzie Group was fined $50,000 and found guilty of professional misconduct by the three-member building watchdog run by NSW Fair Trading whose sole job is to monitor and discipline building certifiers.
The board initially found that the certifier’s conduct was “of a sufficiently serious nature to justify suspension or cancellation of (their) accreditation and is therefore professional misconduct” and said their conduct “(fell) short of the standard of competence, diligence and integrity that a member of the public is entitled to expect of a reasonably competent certifier.”
McKenzie appealed to the tribunal and in agreement with the board, the finding was downgraded to “unsatisfactory professional conduct”. The fine remains.
“The agreement between the parties in relation to these proceedings is confidential,” tribunal principal member Linda Pearson said in her judgment published earlier this year.
The Daily Telegraph has been refused access to any of the tribunal documents.
One reason for not fighting the appeal was said to be to save the cost of a hearing, a source said.
The residents are back in the distinctive triangular block after building defects were fixed but owners had to pay $1 million in insurance this year, a 10-fold increase. A multi-million dollar class action has been launched against the NSW Government through the Sydney Olympic Park Authority which owns the land.
The independent government report identified multiple design and construction faults in the tower which left beams “prone to failure” after changes were made to the original design, including a lack of grouting between concrete panels and load-bearing hob beams.
The report was not asked to investigate the certifiers but said “there was a range of construction issues that occurred which were not compliant with Australian standards, and aspects of the design which led to structurally inadequate sections of the Opal Tower.
“While no evidence has been found that those responsible for certifying work did not conform with requirements, it is evident that a number of checks for compliance were not undertaken or undertaken with insufficient rigour. “
The report recommended more transparency about certifiers.
The Opal Tower cracking coupled with the disastrous Mascot Towers in June last year led the government to appoint a building commissioner, who is answerable to the minister. A recommendation from the Public Accountability Committee for an independent building commission has not been acted upon.
A spokesman for NSW Fair Trading said the agreement that the decision be amended to unsatisfactory professional conduct did not “affect the disciplinary actions of the reprimand or fine”.
He said the new Building and Development Certifiers Act that came into effect in June did not use the terms unprofessional misconduct or unsatisfactory misconduct but “had different and much broader grounds for taking disciplinary actions”.
Sales of apartments in Opal Tower have dried up with a one-bedroom sold recently for a price not disclosed and a three-bedroom in May for $2.14 million.
McKenzie Group did not return a call for a comment.
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