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Second cracked tower sparks fears about Australia building rules
SYDNEY, June 16, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Australia’s building and construction
codes came under scrutiny Sunday after hundreds of residents were evacuated
from a high-rise Sydney apartment block where cracks were discovered in the
second such scare in six months.
Some residents said they were left homeless and in tears after they were
ordered to leave the 10-storey, 122-apartment Mascot Towers in a southern
Sydney suburb late Friday after cracks were found in the structure’s beams.
“At this stage, the engineers need to look at the cracks in those beams
while the residents aren’t there,” Fire and Rescue New South Wales state
Assistant Commissioner Roger Mentha told the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
“Then they can do an analysis on whether there have been any movements.”
The incident at the 10-year-old building followed the Christmas Eve
evacuation of residents in the recently completed 38-storey Opal Tower in the
Sydney Olympic Park after “cracking noises” were heard.
Investigators found there were a number of “design and construction issues”
that could have led to the damage that saw the structure move “one to two
millimetres”.
NSW, Australia’s most populous state, said after a public outcry over the
scare that it would embark on the “biggest overhaul of building laws” in its
history.
The changes included appointing a building commissioner to audit work done
throughout the design and construction process.
Peak body Engineers Australia said Saturday the state “has been slow to
move, but it is not too late if we start now”.
“The Mascot Towers situation is further evidence that we need changes in
the building and construction sector,” Engineers Australia’s Jonathan Russell
said in a statement.
“It shouldn’t take a crisis for government to act in the interests of
community safety and consumer protection.”
BSS/AFP/MSY/0820 hrs