The NSW Office of the Building Commissioner and Hassall Developments have reached an agreement for the developer to repair a number of serious defects at its Imperial development on Hassall Street in Parramatta, following a three-year inspection and audit process.
Undertaken by NSW Fair Trading, the inspection process has seen a number of serious defects within the building require immediate and thorough repairs. Constructed by Merhis Build Pty Ltd, residents were banned from entering the tower by Building Commissioner David Chandler way back in 2021.
The developers have been issued with a Rectification Orders and a Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020 (NSW)., which provides for the proactive investigation and rectification of serious defects in residential apartment buildings by the Secretary of the Department of Customer Services (the Secretary). The Prohibition Order identifies serious defects within the building and prohibits the issue of an occupation certificate in relation to the building until the Order is revoked by the Secretary.
“In Parramatta, 179 units will be available to the rental property market, after the necessary remediation work is completed by the receivers, which will provide a housing supply boost,” says Building Commissioner Chandler.
“The off-the-plan purchasers of units in this building have been on a distressing journey. However, I believe this outcome will be better for them.
“If they were to settle rather than get their deposits back, they would be settling on a building which has identified serious defects that will be remediated before being rented and may have future defects that may later be identified.
The receivers have agreed to remediate all serious defects remaining in the building, identified by a building compliance specialist, and use the apartments as a rented property. They will deal directly with off-the-plan purchasers to bring those contracts to an end.
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