Developer Jean Nassif ordered to fix multiple building defects at 2 Affleck Circuit, Kellyville

Under-siege developer and ‘wanted man’ Jean Nassif is facing fresh defects in yet another building, as ‘uncontrolled cracking’ was uncovered in an apartment complex in Sydney’s west.

A $20 million apartment complex – developed by wanted man Jean Nassif – has been slapped over a raft of serious defects including “uncontrolled cracking” and water damage by the state’s building watchdog.

Assistant Building Commissioner Matthew Whitton issued Toplace’s Hector Court Pty Ltd a building work rectification order for three lots at 2 Affleck Ct, Kellyville – which features apartments recently sold for upwards of $1 million each – due to defects including cracking in the basement, inadequate waterproofing, and insufficient fire safety, according to public documents.

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Nassif’s Toplace and other linked building and construction companies have been hit with a total of nine rectification orders since June, 2021 – within developments at Castle Hill, Canterbury and Botany – as well as a single prohibition order issued in Castle Hill in 2021. The order was issued to Jean Nassif’s Hector Court Pty Ltd on Thursday, and will remain in place until revoked by Fair Trading NSW.

The order details that it was based on an inspection carried out in December which identified 11 serious defects at the site, including one relating to “uncontrolled cracking to basement slabs” and soffits which is the underside of roof overhangs and nine waterproofing issues.

Planning records show the $19.8m development, which lists the address at 2b Hector Court, was submitted and approved in 2017. 

According to the documents there were serious defects located on the rooftop of all three buildings, while evidence of water entering into the building causing unhealthy and dangerous conditions and the lift shaft louvre ventilation was not sealed to be fire resistant.

NSW Assistant Building Commissioner Matthew Whitton in the documents said the defects discovered at the site failed to comply with multiple Australian building standards.

According to documents, a notice of intention to issue the building work rectification order was served on the developer in July but no submissions were made in response.

It states in the rectification report, the owners corporation of the building wrote to Fair Trading in August confirming the order should be finalised.

In issuing the order on Thursday, Mr Whitton has given the developers up to six months to fix the various defects and to ensure the building meets compliance standards.

A $19.8m unit development in the Hills Shire has come under scrutiny from the state’s building watchdog with an order issued to “remediate the potential serious defects”. 

“I accept that the order requires specified actions that are likely to be costly,” he wrote.

“However, the cost to the developer must be balanced against the benefit to the occupiers to be gained from identifying the specific building work that will eliminate the serious defects.”

Planning records show the $19.8m development, which lists the address at 2b Hector Court, was submitted and approved by the Hills Shire Council in 2017.