Building breaches at Bentley Suites could prompt demolition, legal action

A law suit is brewing against the ACT government after the discovery of steel beams at the Bentley Suites apartment complex that allegedly breached building codes because of "greatly reduced fire resistance levels".

Engineers found the beams would be resistant to fire for just 10 to 15 minutes, rather than the 120 minutes that was required at the time they were installed, according to a letter sent to residents.

On December 20, residents of the Bentley Suites complex at the intersection of Dominion Circuit and Canberra Avenue will vote on whether they should progress legal action related to the alleged breaches.

Fairfax Media has seen a letter from ACT Strata Management Services announcing the meeting and outlining residents' concerns with the basement steelwork.

"The discovery has been made of the deficiency in the design of the car park columns and beams (structural steelwork) which has meant that this steelwork has greatly reduced fire resistance levels, which do not comply with the Building Code of Australia," the letter read.

Attached to the letter is a report written on behalf of the Bentley building's executive committee, dated November 22, 2017, which outlines how the alleged failings were found earlier this year during maintenance work in the underground car park.

"Opinions of a structural engineer have been received that the square hollow steel columns and steel beams supporting the building above appear to be non-compliant," read the report.

"[A] structural engineer was engaged to investigate the fire resistance of the columns and beams and came to the conclusion that the majority of them were estimated to have a fire resistance level of 10 to 15 minutes," it continued.

"In a best case scenario [it was] estimated that some of the columns and beams may reach a fire resistance level of 30 minutes. The BCA requirement at the time of the design of the structure was 120 minutes."

Fire resistance level is a measure of a material's structure and integrity defined within the Building Code of Australia.

The engineering company mentioned in the report did not respond to Fairfax Media's request for comment.

The same report outlined concerns the ACT government had negligently approved plans for the building without proper scrutiny.

A spokeswoman for Access Canberra said the government would be looking into the issue.

"Access Canberra takes building safety seriously, however we can confirm that no complaints have been received by Access Canberra at this time in relation to this building."

Apartment owner Peter Fiegehen said news of the potential breaches was "very concerning".

"This means that our apartments may not be sold without disclosing this matter, making them virtually worthless until this is sorted out.

"The Bentley Suites must be about 15 years old and it is astonishing that this has only been discovered now."

Given the building was in a "high-demand, premium location", Mr Fiegehen said one solution could be to demolish the Bentley Suites and re-develop the land, avoiding a lengthy legal tussle in the process.

"This property is large though low density and in a very high-demand, premium location," he said.

"I wonder what the future holds. Will they be bulldozed and 200 units built."

A Bentley building resident, who asked not to be named, said they were "shocked" by the discovery.

"This could go on for years," they said.

The Bentley Suites was originally run as boutique hotel operated by Doma, before it was sold to private owners. There are 110 apartments inside the complex.

A spokeswoman for the Doma Group told Fairfax the company was unaware of the issues raised by residents.