Sydney Developer Toplace Licence Revoked

The licence of a New South Wales development company has been permanently revoked.

NSW Fair Trading has revoked the licence of Toplace, while the developer behind it, Jean Nassif, has had his building licence revoked for 10 years after serious defects were identified in some of his Sydney developments.  

The ruling comes into effect this week.

A spokesperson for NSW Fair Trading told The Urban Developer that earlier this month, a disciplinary decision was made by the department cancelling Nassif’s supervisor certificate and Toplace’s contractor licence.

The disciplinary action comes after an investigation into Toplace’s Atmosphere and Skyview developments at 299-309 Old Northern Road and 51-53 Old Castle Hill Road, both in Castle Hill, and Toplace’s Vicinity development at 15 and 18 Charles Street, Canterbury.

“Toplace and Mr Nassif have 28 days from the date of the disciplinary decisions to lodge an internal review or appeal to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal,” the spokesperson said.

“To date, no application has been made.”

A Toplace representative was contacted for comment.

Toplace has been hit by three building work rectification orders in less than a year for its Canterbury development, which ordered the company “to remediate the potential serious defects” in the building work.

The reports highlighted “the construction of transfer beams/slabs which are not structurally adequate” and would not support the ground floor or level one, in addition to the cracking of the balcony slab on the first floor, and the ground level slab exhibiting distress at the blade columns. 

The building rectification orders said that these issues were considered serious defect because of their impacts on the internal load bearing capabilities of the buildings, which are likely to cause the inability to inhabit or use the building for its intended purpose, and could cause the collapse of all or part of the building. 

▲ Toplace managing director Jean Nassif.

At the time, Toplace asked for additional time, saying that the Department of Planning had “failed to provide adequate notice”, but the request was refused. 

Subsidiary JKN Hills was also slapped with a building rectification order for its site at its Skyview apartment development at 299-309 Old Northern Road this year over the installation of external cladding.

According to Toplace’s website, founder Nassif has delivered approximately 30,000 residential homes, shopping centres and commercial suites in Sydney. 

The company said it ensured a secure investment for owner occupiers and investors through “strategic planning and architectural design excellence”.

“Giving back to the community is paramount; Toplace puts the community first and has built additional roads, parks and other vital community facilities into its residential apartment developments,” it said.