Loading The Herald has obtained a fire order issued by the council last November, demanding the owners corporation urgently audit potentially combustible cladding on the building. The owners were also given 30 days to produce an annual fire safety statement, a mandatory document which declares fire safety measures in the building are up to standard. On Wednesday, the private certifier involved in the matter told the Herald he has still not issued a final occupation certificate for the building because of the lack of an annual fire safety statement. The first residents moved in more than two years ago under an interim occupancy certificate.

In 2017, as the developer pushed for the apartments to be occupied, Fire and Rescue NSW warned that 30 separate deficiencies meant the building was inadequate for "the saving of life and property" in a fire. The owners corporation have also launched a compensation claim against the builder, Next Constructions, in the NSW Supreme Court, which has jurisdiction for defects worth in excess of half a million dollars. The owners are unable to sue the developer, which the Herald cannot name for legal reasons, because the company went into liquidation in 2017. The council and the developer both denied the allegations but refused to answer detailed questions from the Herald. The revelations come a week after the Berejiklian government unveiled reforms designed to remedy deteriorating building standards, including an industry-wide registration system and changes making it easier for homeowners to sue. As the changes are not retrospective they will do little to help those who have already sunk their life savings into defective builds.

The government has denied there is a crisis in the state's building industry, despite the Herald revealing abandoned buildings at Zetland and Erskineville in recent months, in addition to the evacuations of the Mascot and Opal Towers. But the man the government appointed to address the unfolding drama, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, this week said buyers needed to do "more research" to avoid buying defective units in the first place. From the top: Erskineville apartment development, Zetland, Homebush Opal Towers and Mascot towers. Credit:Kate Geraghty, Nick Moir, Brook Mitchell The development application for the Mirage project was approved in 2015, accompanied by a voluntary planning agreement requiring the developer to transfer one completed unit to council for affordable housing. The developer had to pay a bond as security it would meet its obligations.

By early 2017 the developer was trying to obtain an occupation certificate, signed by the private certifier, confirming the building was safe for habitation. But Fire and Rescue NSW discovered 30 items "not having been completed, unsuitable, or adequately addressed" during an inspection. "It is considered that adequate provisions have not been made for the protection and saving of life and property in the case of fire," a team leader from the fire safety assessment unit wrote in February 2017. In July, the private certifier's employee provided "written confirmation" the works ordered by Fire and Rescue NSW had been completed. But in another stumbling block, council officers discovered the affordable housing unit did not comply with Australian standards.

It was agreed the private certifier could issue an interim occupation certificate allowing the owners to move in. A final occupation certificate would be issued, and a $135,000 bond refunded, once the developer had brought the affordable housing unit up to standard. "At long last," the developer's lawyer wrote in an email at the time. But while work on the affordable housing unit is complete, outstanding fire safety issues meant a final occupation certificate was never issued. According to the whistleblower, the developer needed to "pay of [sic] mounting debts" and "pressured" a Ryde councillor to provide the occupancy certificate.

Loading The councillor in turn lobbied a senior council bureaucrat, the whisteblower said, warning in a letter that "good people are hurting". The whistleblower claimed the manager instructed another employee to get the approval "done". The council imposed a fire order on the building, forcing the owner's corporation to pay to fix the defects. Failure to comply with such orders can result in penalties of up to $1.1 million. A spokesman said the City of Ryde "refutes the allegations made".

The spokesman refused to confirm whether a fire order had been issued for the building, whether the case had been referred to regulators for investigation or comment on the allegations against the councillor and staffer. "Council was not the certifier for the development and was not tasked with issuing the occupation certificate," the spokesperson said. "Council also had no role in endorsing the occupation certificate for the development. "It is the responsibility of the owners to ensure the building's compliance with relevant fire safety standards." The developer said his "only comment was no comment" but that the whistleblower's complaint was "completely inaccurate".

The lawyer for the owners corporation, Paul Jurdeczka of Chambers Russell Lawyers, was unable to provide details of the Supreme Court matter. "Given that proceedings are on foot, and the serious and complex nature of the allegations that our client has been asked to comment on ... it is inappropriate that our client comment at this time," Mr Jurdeczka said. The builder, Next Constructions, did not respond to a request for comment. The Mirage building was a finalist in the "Excellence in High Density Development" category at an industry awards night hosted by the Urban Development Institute of Australia last year. The NSW parliamentary inquiry into the regulation of building standards is ongoing, and is being chaired by Greens MP David Shoebridge.