Sydney Developer Hits Back at Serious Defect Claims

Greenland Australia has disputed reports that there are serious structural defects at its Macquarie Park project.

The Acting Assistant Building Commissioner Matt Press handed down a building work rectification order this week for Greenland’s 23 Halifax Street development, and it was widely reported in mainstream news media.

However, Greenland has now hit back. The developer said it was aware that there had been several news stories regarding the development, dubbed nbh at Lachlan's Line.

“Greenland can confirm it received a Draft Work Rectification Order from the Building Commission NSW at the end of October 2023, to which it promptly responded,” a spokesperson for Greenland told The Urban Developer.

The developer engaged “multiple, suitably qualified engineering consultants to undertake investigations in accordance with the requests of the Commission, within the Draft BWRO”.

“Their initial investigations have identified the BWRO issues are localised in the lower car park levels only and that there is no risk of collapse of the building’s towers. 

“There is no serious damage or serious structural defects at the project, as some media outlets have claimed.” 

Since then, Greenland has undertaken additional investigations, it said. 

“Recommendations were made by the external engineering consultants to undertake localised repairs, to ensure the long-term durability and structural integrity of building’s concrete slabs and joints as identified in the Draft BWRO.

“Greenland has been following all directions made by the Commission and its specialist consultants and remains fully committed to working closely with the Commission to satisfactorily resolve the situation.

“Greenland can confirm that no other buildings that it has developed, are impacted by this issue.” 

Greenland, said that it had contacted all residential owners and tenants at the project today, via the project’s building manager and strata managers, and that no evacuations at the project were required.

▲ Work was completed at the Macquarie Park site in February 2020.

A spokesperson for Building Commission NSW was also keen to emphasise that current residents were safe.

“There is no danger to the residents who live in the apartments at 23 Halifax Street, Macquarie Park from the defects identified which relate to the long-term durability of the basement levels of the building only, not to any units within the complex,” they said in a statement to The Urban Developer.

“The Building Commission will continue to work with the developer to ensure compliance with the Order and is working to rebuild trust and capability in the construction sector.”

The development, dubbed nbh at Lachlan’s Line development consists of four buildings and 900 apartments. 

It was built by GN Residential Construction Pty Ltd, an arm of Ganellen.

Authorised officers conducted an inspection of the Macquarie Park development in August 2023. 

According to the rectification order, Press said that they had found serious damage and spalling of the concrete slab at the joint locations in basements and the ground floor.

The report alleged that the issue, “caused by defective workmanship”, is likely to cause the basement slab to fail, fracturing and collapsing and leading to the destruction of all or part of the building. 

It urged Greenland to ensure the slabs and beams could adequately support the structure, requiring slab scanning to be carried out in the next two months to confirm steel reinforcements were installed as per the approved plan. 

The Building Commissioner’s office asked that work be carried out to rectify the issues in the next eight months.

▲ The first retail offering at nbh at Lachlan's Line, a 5000sq m Coles supermarket, opened in 2020. 

Plans for the Lachlan’s Line development were announced in 2016, proposing approximately 900 apartments across six towers ranging in height from seven to 17 storeys, and 6000 sqm of ground floor retail.

Greenland’s website says that the project is “north-west Sydney’s newest and most sought-after urban village”.

The NSW Building Commissioner’s office, introduced in 2019 in order to combat building defects, sits under the NSW Fair Trading department. 

Since its inception, it has issued clear warnings to builders and developers, particularly of mid and high-rise apartments in the state. 

Sydney in particular has been plagued with building defects. Late last year it was announced that two defective towers in Parramatta would be fixed and sold on.

And the Commissioner has taken no prisoners with habitual offenders, revoking the building licence of developer Toplace and its boss Jean Nassif.