BELLEVUE Apartment owners who lost a legal case over faults in their Newcastle West building have criticised comments by NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler about their situation.
Strata committee chair and treasurer Mike West rejected legal costs that Mr Chandler said the unit owners incurred, saying they were "inaccurate and over-inflated".
While the legal bill is substantial, the final amounts are yet to be determined as a costs assessment is still in process, Mr West said.
He was also critical of Mr Chandler's comments that he was "devastated" for the Bellevue Apartment owners left with legal costs as well as repairs to the building.
"I would have expected the commissioner to have been more circumspect with his personal comments and opinions in the public domain," Mr West said.
He declined to comment on the nature of the case but said the strata committee and apartment owners were in the process of dealing with some long-standing issues, including the building's facade.
At a building regulation parliamentary inquiry hearing in Newcastle last week a Newcastle apartment owner said major defects in the building would cost each owner about $45,000 to repair. The total repair bill was $1.6 million, but the figure did not include new costs to replace flammable cladding.
"I would just like to say that I hope the Government - and I know this is probably a big ask - but I am hoping that because building is a public issue, it is a public trust issue that has been falling down here," the unit owner told the inquiry.
"So in order to restore confidence I would hope the Government can assist people like us because it is heading towards a substantial loss. We do not know how big that loss will be at the moment.
"I am sure it could very well break some people, including myself, so we will see where that ends up."
The unit owner told the inquiry the defects became apparent in 2017. It would be at least another six months before residents know the full cost of repairs.
Another Newcastle unit owner told the inquiry that defects in their building became apparent in 2009, shortly after they moved in, but before defects had been rectified the building company went into liquidation.
"We expected all parts of the building to comply to Australian safety standards, building standards, as well as fire safety standards," the unit owner told the inquiry.
