Opal Tower declared defect-free, nearly eight years on
Sydney's Opal Tower, evacuated on Christmas Eve 2018, was declared defect-free on 10 October 2026 and now carries a 20-year structural warranty.
Opal Tower, the 392-apartment, 36-storey block at Sydney Olympic Park, was declared defect-free on 10 October 2026 at a ribbon-cutting, according to the ABC. The building was evacuated on Christmas Eve 2018 and owners have waited close to eight years for this day.
Owners Corporation chair Shady Eskander said: “It’s fantastic to announce that Opal Tower is defect-free.”
Why it matters
For owners, the cost was years, not just dollars. The ABC reports one resident was out of her unit for 11 months. Eskander told the ABC repairs cost millions of dollars, though no total has been published.
For builders and developers, Opal Tower is the case study every project team remembers. A 2019 engineers’ report commissioned by the NSW government pointed to “design and construction matters”, in particular changes made after the original design.
That is a lesson for any developer approving late variations on a tall concrete project, in any state. For the Queensland side of the same conversation, see our report on builder licence suspensions and our Queensland hub.
The numbers
- 392 apartments across 36 storeys.
- Evacuated Christmas Eve 2018; declared defect-free 10 October 2026.
- A 20-year structural warranty, which Eskander described to the ABC as an Australian first.
- Developer Ecove, builder Icon, engineers WSP.
- Costs: “millions of dollars” reported, no total published.
We could not reach a primary record, such as an Owners Corporation notice, a court order or a regulator document. The figures above rest on the ABC report, and we have not independently confirmed the warranty terms.
What’s next
The ABC reports that the saga’s class action and legal cases are all resolved. It gave no outcomes or amounts, so the settlement terms remain unknown.
The warranty is the test. A 20-year structural cover, if the terms prove as broad as described, sets a benchmark that buyers, lenders and insurers may start asking other developers to match. Builders pricing high-rise work should expect those questions.
NSW also tightened its building rules after Opal Tower, including a building commissioner role, the ABC notes. Eskander called for quality construction so defects do not occur in new Sydney towers.