Newcastle council is conducting a structural engineering report into the safety of an inner-city apartment block.
The dilapidated three-storey building in Nesca Parade, The Hill, which is occupied by tenants, has bowed floors and eroding concrete.
A city real estate agent said his firm had stopped managing the property last year over safety concerns.
"We didn't want to end up on 60 Minutes," he said.
A council spokesperson said on Friday that the owner had failed to comply with a development control order requiring him to have the building inspected by a structural engineer.
"As a result, the city is now taking action to have a report done with costs at the expense of the owner," the spokesperson said.
The building owner, Royce Pearce, told the Newcastle Herald that the units were safe and structurally sound.
"When it was built in the early 1960s the foundations weren't compacted properly then," he said.
"That's why it's got the bow in it. It's been like that for 60 years. It hasn't moved in 60 years. It stood through the earthquake. Lots of other buildings didn't stand through the earthquake.
"It's a very solid concrete building."
Mr Pearce said the building had not deteriorated.
"We have been doing some work on the building. Ultimately it's going to be sold. Ultimately it will be redeveloped," he said.
He said he had spoken to an engineer about inspecting the property.
"Newcastle council did a while ago ask us to get an engineer to just check it over and give them a report on it.
"I've spoken to an engineer about it. He hasn't been out."
Mr Pearce said workers would be on site next week painting the outside.
But he was adamant the apartment block did not need structural work.
"If you go down the street, there's other [buildings] there that have got bows in the concrete slab," he said.
"Not as bad as this one, but they're very old buildings."
The council spokesperson said investigations officers regularly inspected buildings in response to complaints or concerns from residents and neighbours.
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