Mascot Towers: Unlicensed tradies, falling standards to blame for cracking NSW buildings

Dodgy tradesman and declining building standards are to blame for buildings “falling down around (people’s) ears”, an insider claims.

A government insider has blamed dodgy tradesmen and declining standards for buildings “falling down around (people’s) ears” in NSW.

The comments come after residents were kicked out of their homes when cracks were discovered in two Sydney residential high-rises, Mascot Towers and Opal Tower.

The cause of the problems at Mascot Towers is still being investigated.

A NSW Government source told news.com.au the state’s construction industry was rife with tradesmen and builders who entered the workforce with inadequate training.

The source said a shift from local council building inspections to “in-house” inspections carried out by construction companies had eroded quality control.

He said the government “never” carried out inspections on worksites, at towers or homes.

The government source told news.com.au he was “not surprised” when Sydney’s residential Opal Tower began cracking, leading to the forced evacuation of residents on Christmas Eve last year.

The lack of funding to government departments that regulated tradesmen had led to the overall degradation of construction across the state, according to the source, who did not want to be named.

Builders and tradesmen were increasingly letting their licences lapse, some for periods of up to five years.

The government — pushed to cut red tape on anything that could hold up construction projects and pushed to meet consumer demand — had failed to detect and penalise unlicensed operators, he said.

The government has no protections in place to protect consumers from tradesmen with a “history of poor work”.

“These people are often working unsupervised,” the source told news.com.au. “Then, the people who are supposed to come out and check the walls, the slab — that could be that person’s cousin.”

The source described an established system of “sign-offs” on elements of a build that were not even seen by the foreman of certified tradesman, saying licensed overseers were often not on site.

He said unlicensed workers were often left on a site for days on end.

“We’re supposed to be so advanced as a society, but everything is just to cut corners,” he said.

Residents were evacuated from Mascot Towers over building defects. Picture: Damian Shaw

The government worker said the level of training for some tradesmen could now be “just a few lessons” as TAFEs had been replaced with private colleges.

“They’re often only going to a few lessons, a couple of nights a week, then suddenly they’re a tradesman,” he said. “In that time, do they pour a slab of concrete? I don’t know.

“The process and the level of workmanship — if they were driving a car, you wouldn’t trust them to drive the car.

“These buildings are falling down around their ears because of the level of work that’s done now.”

According to the Home Building Act 1989, it’s an offence for an unlicensed worker to work on the site of a residential or specialist building site.

The source said the government was aware of operators with “known” histories of dodgy work, but the department had failed to act.

The source said a department staffer with the job of investigating issues relating to tradesmen and construction was “doing nothing” to protect consumers.

“The only people that know these things are the people on the inside,” he said.

The source told news.com.au that government staff no longer inspected buildings, even if it said on a work order that a wall or slab required one. These requirements were routinely ignored in order to cut costs and red tape to speed up construction.

Robert Marinelli, the director of Association of Accredited Certifiers (AAC), which represents building certifiers, agreed that “light touch” licences issued by the Department of Fair Trading had failed the public.

INFRASTRUCTURE BOOM WILL HAVE RAMIFICATIONS

Electrical Trade Union (ETU) secretary Justin Page said the union’s 17 inspectors were increasingly finding unlicensed operators carrying out electrical work on work sites across the state.

He said the problem was “rampant”.

“The infrastructure boom we have at the moment, it has the potential to have safety ramifications going forward,” Mr Page said.

“Labour hire has been an issue. They’re getting people at cheaper rates. That’s contributed to this — the casualisation (of labour) is a factor.

“We’re finding more and more unlicensed electrical workers all across the state, domestic and commercial, but in renewables as well.

“The renewables are in the regional parts of the state — when we visit those parts of the state it’s rampant.”

Mr Page said the NSW Government, stripped of resources, had become a merry-go-round of bureaucracy for concerned union representatives trying to report safety concerns, as the department could not physically inspect bad work.

“The department has no record of who has done the work. SafeWork don’t have dedicated people to inspect the wiring work,” he said.

SafeWork NSW executive director Tony Williams met with the ETU earlier this year regarding the issue of unlicensed workers, with the union pushing for the establishment of a dedicated electrical safety regulator for the state. Victoria and Queensland have their own electrical construction regulators.

‘RED TAPE IS NECESSARY’

The sentiments are echoed by the Association of Accredited Certifiers, which has called for an overhaul of the NSW government’s system.

It wants to see all key personnel in the construction industry undergo accreditation, as well as having regular assessments of their competency. This would include builders, designers and other professionals in the industry, in a move it says will “restore owners’ and residents’ confidence”.

Mr Marinelli explained that certifiers, similar to building inspectors, spent little time on site, and relied on builders and contractors to provide detailed certification of their work.

“The people giving us the documents aren’t held to accountability,” he said.

“We’ve been asking government to accredit the designers and installers and everyone associated with the construction, to hold (them) accountable for their work since 2003.”

Mr Marinelli said contractors and other construction workers needed to be registered with the government, and needed to be insured, in order to provide this accountability to consumers, should issues arise with a building.

“No one likes red tape, but red tape is necessary,” Mr Marinelli said.

“For the core benefit of the consumer and society, that’s the benefit.”

The Department of Fair Trading defended its procedures in a statement to news.com.au.

“A person performing unlicensed work could be the subject of compliance action by NSW Fair Trading, which can include criminal prosecution for breaches of the legislation,” the statement read.

“NSW Fair Trading regulates certifiers and responds to complaints about claims of defective or incomplete work by inspecting the relevant work and issuing rectification orders where appropriate.

“Enforcement action can be taken if these orders are not complied with and Fair Trading may refer the relevant party to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.”

The department also referred news.com.au to the Home Building Act 1989, which stipulates that unlicensed builders and contractors face fines of up to $22,000 per breach for individuals and $110,000 for corporations.

Bayside Council Mayor Bill Saravinovski said Mascot Towers was approved more than 10 years ago.

“Surely inspections were done during the course of the building?” he said on Triple M Sydney’s Moonman in the Morningon Tuesday.

Emergency props were placed in parking spaces below the building in recent weeks before the evacuation. Picture: Damian Shaw

Cracks have occurred in the Mascot residential building. Picture: Monique Harmer

A 2018 report into “improving the effectiveness of compliance and enforcement systems for the building and construction industry” made 24 recommendations.

The report recommended engineers and builders be registered as industry professionals and undergo training with mandatory hours.

The report also recommended “a focus on collaboration between state and local government and private building surveyors to improve regulatory oversight”, saying more “broad powers” were needed to encourage the auditing of building work.

APARTMENT OWNERS FACE BANKRUPTCY

One apartment owner has told news.com.au they intend to declare bankruptcy after having their loan application denied by the bank. After being informed of hefty levies, estimated to reach up to $5.5 million for the entire building, the owner’s application for a new mortgage was denied because of the state of the troubled towers.

Mascot Towers is suffering defects in two distinct areas of the building.

The first site, located downstairs by a barber shop was noticed by the building’s engineers as long as two years ago, news.com.au understands.

The second defect, located in the carpark, was only noticed about “three or four weeks ago”, according to one apartment owner.

Immediate installation of metal props is required in the carpark to stabilise the structure.

These props cost $254,000, plus $20,000 to install overnight.

The owner is concerned the strata company will continue to slug unit owners with unknown fees over coming years, as the building continues to deteriorate. After speaking with a lawyer, he has considered bankruptcy as a more viable option than paying the strata company.

“No one in Australia has had this experience,” he told news.com.au. “We are not the same as the Opal (Tower), we have no warranty.

“When you buy a house, it’s all there. But suddenly it’s all gone. But not only that, I have to go into bankruptcy.”

Do you know more? Continue the conversation @dollyybird | [e-mail]