Crownview residents stopped from moving in - again

The building at the top of Crown Street has been under a prohibition order from the NSW Building Commissioner since December last year due to a range of defects.

An inspection found a "serious defect" in a load-bearing column column thickened with high-strength concrete, which Building Commissioner David Chandler said indicated it was "structurally inadequate".

The prohibition order stops an occupancy certificate from being issued until the faults are rectified - that order is still in force.

Builder Piety Group is responsible for fixing the defects and a letter from building owner PSR Crownview Investments boss Robert Huang said the date owners can move in has been pushed back yet again.

Initially residents were told in February that they'd be moving in in April, then it was moved to November and, a month ago, moved again to late January.

In that time, the Mercury understands a number of owners have cut their losses and sold their apartments or had their deposits refunded, while Mr Huang's Oxford on Crown company is still selling other units.

In a letter sent out on Monday, Mr Huang told owners there was yet another delay and the 149 apartments will now remain empty until the end of March.

"Please be updated that the builder has recently extended the practical completion/occupancy certification date to March 29 2024 due to investigation and remedial works takes [sic] longer than they previously estimated," Mr Huang's letter said.

The design and construction of the remedial works need to be reviewed by the independent peer review engineer and the independent BCA consultant to the satisfactory [sic] of the Office of Building Commissioner NSW and Wollongong City Council."

The letter also stated the builder had factored those approvals into the March 29 date.