Building company insists that apartment block is structurally sound but move will let engineers ‘work around the clock’ to repair it

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

All residents of the brand new Sydney apartment building that developed a crack on Christmas Eve will be re-evacuated for up to 10 days so the construction company can conduct further investigations and repairs.

The news prompted a frustrated response from one resident, who interrupted a press conference on Thursday afternoon to complain about once again having to leave their apartment to be relocated to a hotel.

Opal Tower in Sydney’s Olympic Park was evacuated on Monday night after a crack developed in a load-bearing concrete panel and the building shifted 2mm – causing plaster to crack and doors to stick in their frames.

On Tuesday the building was declared safe to live in by its developer, Ecove, and residents of two-thirds of the tower were told they could return to their apartments.

On Boxing Day Ecove’s director hit back at “sensational” reports, declaring that Opal Tower was a “high-quality” building and that the company that built the tower, Icon Constructions, was “a well-established, high-quality builder”.

But on Thursday afternoon Icon announced all residents would now be relocated from the building so the entire site could be investigated and repaired.

Sydney Opal Tower crack highlights industry's 'she'll be right' attitude, experts say Read more

All residents would be moved within 24 hours and the work could take up to 10 days, a spokeswoman said.

But the company stressed that the building was still structurally sound and no residents were in danger.

“The temporary relocation is a precautionary measure to allow engineers to work around the clock to investigate and remediate the site in the quickest time possible,” a statement said.

At a press conference held at the foot of the building, Icon’s managing director, Nick Brown, rejected the claim that the building “will never be safe”.

Guy Templeton, an engineer from firm WSP who are providing support to Icon, said the structure was sound.

“I’m very comfortable standing right here, below the building,” he told reporters. “[But] the reasons for the failure at the moment are unknown.”

Brown said there was no cracking in any other part of the building, but a similar pre-cast concrete panel was used in 16 other locations.

“This wasn’t a rush job,” he said. “I think we will continue to be the reputable builder that we are.”

But he was then interrupted by an angry resident, who accused the company of mistreating them.

“You ask us to move back, now you ask us to evacuate again?” she asked. “We have pets, we have valuables in our apartments, it’s impossible and the accommodation … is really terrible compared to our apartments, which we paid for.”

“Can we have some fair treatment in the end?” she asked.

Brown said Icon was “spending a lot of time and energy of a team of the country’s best engineers” and that the investigation would also be overseen by independent engineers hired by the body corporate.

Among other projects, Icon have built offices for the Victorian parliament, a molecular science building for Melbourne University, and the Ruth Everuss Aquatic Centre in Sydney.

Since Tuesday morning most residents of Opal Tower’s 390 apartments have been allowed to return home. But 51 units, located in one corner of the building, were still blocked off.

Dave, a resident of Opal Tower, told Guardian Australia it was frustrating that the cause of the fault still had not been fully explained.

“I guess it’s good having some sort of time frame, but they haven’t really explained properly what the exact issue was which caused the damage in the first place,” he said.

On Tuesday, Dave said he had been given five minutes to return and collect his belongings.

“My apartment and my neighbour had notices on the doors that said you can’t actually live in here,” he said. “Nobody else was affected, it was just that corner.”

Icon said all affected residents would be compensated for the disruption.

Also on Thursday, the New South Wales planning minister, Anthony Roberts, announced that two engineering professors would lead an investigation into what had happened to the building.

Earlier experts had said problems with apartments like Opal Tower had been “brewing for a long time” owing to a poor compliance system in New South Wales, overdevelopment and a “she’ll be right” attitude to construction.

But Bassam Aflak, Ecove’s director, rejected this: “Any suggestion the building damage pointed to ‘a broader pattern in the industry’ is completely wrong. The city’s ‘development boom’ has not led to cutting of corners. There has been no cutting of corners.

“It’s too early to leap to any conclusions, for instance, to speculate on wider building issues because of what appears to be one failed panel.”

Aflak also said on Wednesday that the evacuation had only made news because it occurred during Christmas.

“The media has understandably investigated this as a sensational story but it’s happened over the Christmas break when there is a scarcity of people who can comment with authority,” he said.