Townsville car park approved without a compliant sprinkler system

MORE than 20 years after Townsville City Council approved a building permit, the owners are taking legal action after they discovered the carpark doesn’t comply with building laws.

Park Haven Medical Centre.

TOWNSVILLE CITY Council is being sued over a building permit approval issued more than 20 years ago for a car park that did not comply with fire safety requirements.

A damages claim was filed in the Townsville District Court on June 21 by the current owners of the Park Haven Medical Centre building, which says the 1994 building permit approval did not have a condition requiring a compliant sprinkler system, despite a regulation about it existing at the time.

The claim was filed by DNB Investments Pty Ltd and Baumann’s Inner Circle, a partnership of six people including former National Party MP Bill Baumann, against Townsville City Council, the State of Queensland and Caldwell Solicitors.

The plaintiffs purchased the premises, including a two-storey car park in 2006 and in 2013 a Queensland Fire and Rescue Service inspection revealed that the car park did not have a sprinkler system and one needed to be installed.

The body corporate was fined $1500 for failing to maintain a prescribed fire safety installation in the building.

They are now seeking $191, 429.64 in damages to cover the costs of investigating the problem, hiring consultants to look into how to fix it and installing a new sprinkler system.

According to the statement of claim the plaintiffs then carried out investigations into the history of the site, including the original building permit approval, and found that there had never been a compliant sprinkler system installed and that there had been no relevant requirement in the building permit approval.

It is further claimed that the Queensland Fire Service failed to direct Townsville City Council to include a condition regarding a sprinkler system in the car park and that following an inspection of the completed building work in October 1995, they gave notice to the council that the special fire services that formed part of the premises complied with requirements.

A Townsville City Council spokesman said staff were checking records and investigating the details of the claim.

Originally published as Townsville car park approved without a compliant sprinkler system