Nine multi-residential buildings in Darwin have been found to be non-compliant, following an investigation into a local private structural engineer.
Approximately 200 unit owners across nine buildings, all built in the past five years, have been informed of issues with the transfer slabs in their buildings.
While the extent of the damage is unclear at this point, these issues could lead to structural problems, according to the NT Department of Infrastructure, Logistics and Planning.
This has been refuted by the department’s director of building control, Mark Meldrum.
“Some of the buildings have been standing for five years, and at this stage we’ve had no complaints about the buildings,” he says in a comment to the ABC.
Owners have been given seven days to engage independent structural engineer, after which a course of action will need to be devised quickly. It is currently unclear how much the repairs will cost for each building, but they will also need to be funded by the owners.
The transfer slab issues were uncovered during an investigation into a Darwin-based structural engineer which has been ongoing since 2017. An independent review was undertaken, during which transfer slab defects were found in nine buildings.
Once the investigation is complete, the engineer in question will be referred to the Building Practitioners Board and there will be an inquiry into a pattern of non-compliance with the National Construction Code.
