Building Commission NSW orders defect fixes at three apartment blocks

Building Commission NSW has issued three building work rectification orders on completed, occupied apartment buildings in 12 days, covering Lewisham and Ashfield in the Inner West and Cremorne on the lower North Shore. Each order names specific defects the regulator believes are serious, and each sets a deadline for a report and then for repairs. They are regulatory steps, not court findings.

Why it matters

The orders are made under section 33 of the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act 2020. A delegate of the Secretary can issue one when there is a reasonable belief that a building has a serious defect. Each order states that failure to comply is an offence under the Act.

For owners and investors, the detail matters more than the headline. The defects named are mostly about water: where it collects, where it gets in and where it has nowhere to go. Buyers in recent apartment stock, and the agents selling it, will want to see how the regulator describes these problems. For developers, three orders in under a fortnight show the Commission is acting on inspection reports well after occupation.

The orders are addressed to the developer entity in each case. Karimbla Properties (No. 23) Pty Limited (ACN 115 511 236) is named at Lewisham, PNA Property Developments Pty Ltd (ACN 601 159 933) at Ashfield, and WFM Cremorne Pty Ltd (ACN 629 062 406) at Cremorne. Nothing in the orders is a finding of liability.

The numbers

Lewisham, 78-90 Old Canterbury Road (Inner West Council). The order is dated 28 September 2026. It covers a complex of multi-storey buildings with a gym, pool, community hall and one retail space, and work was authorised to start on 9 January 2015. The listed defects are in Building D, following a Commission inspection report dated 7 September 2026. They include retained water, ponding or inadequate falls on a roof and balconies, and water leaking through external walls, windows or roofs across Levels 1 to 8. A written report and designs are due by 27 November 2026, and repairs by 27 March 2027, a 180-day period.

Ashfield, 8 Murrell Street (Inner West Council). The order is dated 7 October 2026 and relates to a Class 2 apartment building with a basement car park, based on an inspection on 18 August 2026. It lists no overflow provisions to a roof terrace enclosed by concrete upstands, none to the planter boxes on that terrace, and significant corrosion to the steel members supporting a roof terrace awning. A report and designs are due within three months and the repairs within six months.

Cremorne, 53-55 Gerard Street (North Sydney Council). The order is dated 25 September 2026 and covers a four-storey block of eight units with basement parking, after an inspection on 1 July 2026. It names water ingress through the concrete ceiling of the Basement 2 main switchboard room, beneath the driveway ramp, with corroded switchboard components and no floor drainage. The order says water contact with live equipment could create “a serious risk of electrocution which can be fatal”. A report is due within two months, with a total compliance period of eight months.

What’s next

Each order requires a two-stage response: a written report and designs from a registered design practitioner, then rectification in line with those designs. The first deadline is Cremorne, with a report due within two months of 25 September 2026, followed by Lewisham on 27 November 2026 and Ashfield within three months of 7 October 2026.

The orders remain in force until the Secretary revokes them. Building Commission NSW publishes the orders on its register of building work orders, so progress against these deadlines, and further orders, can be tracked there.

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