Apartment owners sue builders to replace flammable cladding after building rules changed

Owners of units in a Sydney tower block covered in flammable cladding similar to that which ignited London’s Grenfell Tower have launched a class action against the developer and builder.

In what is believed to be the first class action of its kind, the body corporate of 28-storey apartment tower ‘The Rise’ in Parramatta’s CBD is suing the builder as well as the former owner and developer for what they say is poor-quality construction and a breach of duty of care. 

Strata Plan 92450, which represents the owners, is demanding compensation from Toplace Construction, and former owner and developer JKN Para 1 Pty Ltd in the NSW Supreme Court.

Parramatta Rise in Sydney where unit holders have been left with the cost of replacing flammable cladding that has now been banned on high-rise residential towers

The owners claim The Rise contains more than 100 defects from poor-quality building including leaking windows and a cracked ground-floor slab.  

Both Toplace Construction and JKN Para 1, which is owned by developer Jean Nassif, have denied the claims and are fighting the action.

The Rise owners also want compensation because the builders used aluminium composite panels similar to that implicated in the Grenfell Tower inferno as cladding on the external walls. 

In August last year, a new law banned aluminium composite panels with polyethylene cores of more than 30 per cent in cladding on high-rise residential towers. 

Parramatta Rise was built in 2015 with the final occupation certificate issued in 2017, but because the new law applies to existing buildings, the apartment owners say the cladding has now become illegal.

Developer Jean Nassif ­with his wife, Nissy. Toplace is contesting the allegations

Developer Jean Nassif ­with his wife, Nissy. Toplace is contesting the allegations

Strata Plan 92450 told the NSW Supreme Court that the cladding on The Rise has a polyethylene core between 35 and 40 per cent, meaning they will have to replace the cladding to comply with the Building Products (Safety) Act 2017.

Some unit owners in Sydney have been quoted costs of up to  $80,000 per unit to replace flammable cladding.

But Toplace along with JKN Para 1 said in their Supreme Court response that the building satisfies the Act because the Vitrabond FR aluminium composite panels were used in conjunction with other fire safety features.

The action was launched in the NSW Supreme Court in April and may go to mediation.

Toplace Construction says on its website that the company’s founder Jean Nassif has built about 30,000 residential homes, shopping centres and commercial buildings in Sydney and the company now has 3,000 units under construction including at East Square in Mascot. 

Jean Nassif also owns Eveash TST, which in turn owns JKN Para 1, according to ASIC documents. 

Mr Nassif ­became an online media sensation when he posted a video of himself giving his socialite wife, Nissy, a $480,000 yellow Lamborghini earlier this year. 

Toplace General Manager Larissa Mouawad told Daily Mail Australia on Friday the building was soundly constructed with extensive fire safety measures approved and inspected by external fire engineers, the certifier and Fire and Rescue NSW.

‘Changes to the laws implemented on 18 December 2017 mean that certain building materials which previously were approved for use, and some buildings which were previously certified as safe for occupation, may now need to be re-assessed,’ she said by email.

Firefighters in Australia are keen to avoid a repeat of London's Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 (pictured), which claimed 72 lives. The fire was fed by aluminium-composite cladding

Firefighters in Australia are keen to avoid a repeat of London’s Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 (pictured), which claimed 72 lives. The fire was fed by aluminium-composite cladding

Ms Mouawad said London’s Grenfell Tower had no similarity to Parramatta Rise for several reasons including that Grenfell did not have fire retardants or sprinklers, had limited fire exits and no bounding construction to ‘fire separate’ individual units.

‘By requiring large quantities of cladding be removed from buildings and replaced without assessing other fire safety provisions within the building, the retrospective legislation places unprecedented burdens and costs on owners, owners corporations, certifiers, engineers and other experts, builders and the community at large,’ she said.  

Ms Mouawad said the company would not comment on the allegations of poor build quality as the matter is subject to legal proceedings. 

Aluminium composite cladding materials are now subject to class ­actions launched in the Federal Court in Sydney.

The Australian Building Codes Board issued an advisory in February warning builders that CodeMark certification had been withdrawn from nine cladding systems including aluminium composite panels, specifically naming Vitrabond FR, the cladding used on The Rise.

That means that previously issued Certificates of Conformity can no longer be used as evidence of the cladding’s suitability to satisfy the National Construction Code – meaning the buildings need to be re-evaluated for compliance.

Daily Mail Australia contacted Fairview, which advertises Vitrabond FR for sale on its website.

The company said it has less than 30 per cent polyethylene in its fire retardant core.

‘With less than 30 per cent polyethylene component in its fire retardant core, Vitrabond FR currently marketed by Fairview is not banned for use on high-rise construction,’ a company spokesman said in an emailed statement.  

Fairview’s website says the product has been used in many high profile developments from multi-storey apartment towers to the Attorney General’s department in the ACT, the ABC headquarters in Queensland, Star City Casino in Sydney and the Royal Randwick Racecourse. 

It is not known when the product’s composition was changed, or if the new composition has been certified by CodeMark. Daily Mail Australia has sought clarification from Fairview.

An estimated 10,000 buildings across Australia’s eastern states are covered with flammable cladding, with firefighters fearing a repeat of London’s Grenfell disaster which killed 72 people.

New South Wales has identified 650 complexes across the state as being at risk of fire.

Building ministers gathered in Sydney on Thursday to discuss industry reforms as concerns mount over flammable cladding and building defects that have seen three Sydney unit towers evacuated in just over six months.

Victoria has announced a $600million fund to remove the dangerous material from about 500 buildings found by a task force to be high-risk. 

The aftermath of an apartment following the Grenfell Tower Inferno in London back in 2017 (pictured) - firefighters are fearful of a similar disaster in Australia where an estimated 10,000 buildings across Australia's eastern states are covered with the flammable aluminium composite cladding

The aftermath of an apartment following the Grenfell Tower Inferno in London back in 2017 (pictured) – firefighters are fearful of a similar disaster in Australia where an estimated 10,000 buildings across Australia’s eastern states are covered with the flammable aluminium composite cladding

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