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The ACT government say Macquarie apartment residents don’t need to leave their homes despite an evacuation order being issued over structural and fire safety concerns. Residents of the Madison Construction building, Kelkiah Apartments, were notified late Tuesday afternoon that they should evacuate as soon as possible due to very serious structural safety concerns. The notice was issued by the building’s owner’s corporation, and the strata management, LLM Management, said anyone who remained in the building did so “at their own risk”. The ACT government said residents were not required to leave and it had been “taken by surprise” when the evacuation notice came out. The warning came after a structural engineer found fire safety issues with the building’s basement columns. The four businesses in the building continued to operate as usual on Wednesday, and it is not known how many residents of the 40 apartments left the premises. In a report, structural engineer Linden Coot found the building’s basement columns were overloaded and showing signs of structural failure. He said the columns currently had a fire-resistance level of 15 minutes and were required to have a level of at least 60 minutes with a sprinkler system, or 120 minutes otherwise. A Peak Consulting building consultant recommended the apartments be evacuated two days later. “This recommendation does not come lightly, and all the experts involved in this matter have considered all factors but need to ensure we act with due diligence,” a letter to Strata read. One former resident, who didn’t want to be identified, had rented at the Macquarie apartments for several years from 2016. He said the then relatively new apartments were “falling apart” and he repeatedly raised concerns with strata management. He was concerned about a “vibration” throughout the apartments and said some steel beams had rusted in the then eight-year-old building. The former resident wasn’t shocked the safety concerns had been identified but was glad concerns were “finally” being listened to. Sustainable Building and Construction Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the evacuation had taken the government by surprise, but the safety issues strengthened a push towards public certification. Ms Vassarotti said the ACT’s currently entirely privatised certification system needed to change. “There has been some significant reforms over the last number of years, there’s absolutely more work that needs to be done and it will be a priority as I step into the portfolio,” she said.
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The ACT government say Macquarie apartment residents don’t need to leave their homes despite an evacuation order being issued over structural and fire safety concerns.
Residents of the Madison Construction building, Kelkiah Apartments, were notified late Tuesday afternoon that they should evacuate as soon as possible due to very serious structural safety concerns.
The notice was issued by the building’s owner’s corporation, and the strata management, LLM Management, said anyone who remained in the building did so “at their own risk”.
The ACT government said residents were not required to leave and it had been “taken by surprise” when the evacuation notice came out.
The warning came after a structural engineer found fire safety issues with the building’s basement columns.
The four businesses in the building continued to operate as usual on Wednesday, and it is not known how many residents of the 40 apartments left the premises.
Residents of the Kelkiah Apartments were told to evacuate on Tuesday evening over fire safety concerns. Picture: Google Maps
In a report, structural engineer Linden Coot found the building’s basement columns were overloaded and showing signs of structural failure.
He said the columns currently had a fire-resistance level of 15 minutes and were required to have a level of at least 60 minutes with a sprinkler system, or 120 minutes otherwise.
A Peak Consulting building consultant recommended the apartments be evacuated two days later.
“This recommendation does not come lightly, and all the experts involved in this matter have considered all factors but need to ensure we act with due diligence,” a letter to Strata read.
One former resident, who didn’t want to be identified, had rented at the Macquarie apartments for several years from 2016.
He said the then relatively new apartments were “falling apart” and he repeatedly raised concerns with strata management.
He was concerned about a “vibration” throughout the apartments and said some steel beams had rusted in the then eight-year-old building.
The former resident wasn’t shocked the safety concerns had been identified but was glad concerns were “finally” being listened to.
Sustainable Building and Construction Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the evacuation had taken the government by surprise, but the safety issues strengthened a push towards public certification.
Ms Vassarotti said the ACT’s currently entirely privatised certification system needed to change.
“There has been some significant reforms over the last number of years, there’s absolutely more work that needs to be done and it will be a priority as I step into the portfolio,” she said.
