The Building’s Journey: 1987 – Today
100 COMMERCIAL ROAD / 423 PUNT ROAD, SOUTH YARRA
South Yarra Square (SYS) was designed under one law, modified under another, and completed as Victoria’s building regulatory system underwent fundamental change through mass deregulation.
As government oversight shifted, so did the safeguards intended to protect homeowners. The Building Act 1993 introduced provisions that raise important questions about accountability, including Sections 46, 128 and 134, which we describe as “corruption-seeding clauses” because of the potential gaps they create between approval, compliance, accountability and homeowners’ rights. At a time when Victoria has faced serious concerns about corruption and organised crime, the potential relationship between regulatory failures, corruption and broader crime comes into question…
SYS’ foundations were originally constructed in 1989 for a proposed three-storey development, but construction was abandoned within months, leaving the site as a large “insect infected, derelict swamp” (as quoted by neighbours) for more than three years.
During this period, multiple planning iterations were proposed. In 1992, a planning permit (TP92/0810) was issued for a four-storey residential building . The very permit that remains associated with the current building. However, the plans approved under this permit differ significantly from those later approved under the building permits issued in 1994.
Pre-build
1987
MEDICAL CENTRE RECIEVES PLANNING APPROVAL
5-storey building (3 levels above ground & 2 below ground)
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1989
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
Buildings Foundations are formed on site
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1989–1990
PROJECT ABANDONED
Construction stops before completion
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1991
MAJOR REDESIGN
Development redesigned as a 4-storey mixed-use building. Many iterations were put forward and approved in rapid succession. The developer kept changing their mind.
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1992
RESIDENTIAL CONVERSION APPROVED
Project approved for a 4-storey residential development under 1992 planning permit. Plans were TP9220 which were designed by a different architect to the one under the building permit and this one was within height restrictions.
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1994
FINAL DESIGN CHANGES
New plans under building permit issued. These were fundamentally different to the plans under the planning permit and were in breach of height planning regulations.
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VICTORIA CHANGES ITS BUILDING LAWS
Building Control Act 1981
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Building Act 1993
The project transitions between two different regulatory systems ────────────────────────
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1994–1995
CONSTRUCTION COMPLETED
Final building constructed under the new legislative framework
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MARCH 1995
OCCUPANCY PERMIT ISSUED
3 occupancy permits issued. Melbourne city council signed off but the relevant building surveyor (RBS) did not sign off on the certificates.
Despite this, building approved for occupation & residents move in
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Post-Build
TODAY
WHAT WE FOUND THROUGH OUR INVESTIGATIONS
• Missing basement drainage beneath slabs
• Missing structural steel elements
• Extensive water management failures
• Use of experimental building products
• Construction differing from approved plans
• Departures from permits
• Departures from applicable codes and regulations
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Owners face the consequences of significant rectification works as a direct result of the Melbourne City Council’s inactions and actions, and State Government intervention and deregulation of the building industry.
Many are confronting:
• Financial hardship
• Reduced property values
• Uncertainty about the future
• Major repair costs
• Ongoing disruption to their homes
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“THE MORE WE LOOK,
THE MORE WE FIND.”
