{"id":878192,"date":"2026-09-03T04:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T04:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878192\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T04:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T04:44:16","slug":"bathla-group-ordered-to-fix-kembla-grange-development-defects-as-liquidation-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/878192\/","title":{"rendered":"Bathla Group ordered to fix Kembla Grange development defects as liquidation looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 3, 2026 \u2014 12:40pm<\/p>\n

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The state\u2019s building regulator has ordered the collapsed Sydney developer Bathla Group<\/a> to fix serious defects in one of its major projects as administrators desperately work to save the company from liquidation.<\/p>\n

With the deadline to save the developer nearing its end, Bathla\u2019s main corporate entity Universal Property Group has been hit with a prohibition and building work rectification order for its under-construction development in the Illawarra\u2019s Kembla Grange, <\/a>preventing any buyer from living there until the defects are fixed.<\/p>\n

\"SueSue Mancuso and daughter Marie Sinclair stand in front of the fenced-off Kembla Grange development.Wolter Peeters<\/p>\n

Building Commission NSW identified 12 serious defects in the five-building development, including non-compliant installation of a waterproofing system at the basement slab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe non-compliant waterproofing system to the basement slab soffit will lead to water ingress and cause unhealthy or dangerous conditions, loss of amenity for occupants and undue dampness or deterioration of building elements,\u201d the order read.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Former<\/a><\/p>\n

Failure to comply with the requirements listed in the building work rectification order, which must be complied with within eight months, is a criminal offence.<\/p>\n

A prohibition order means an occupation certificate cannot be issued for the development until the building work rectification order is revoked by the commission.<\/p>\n

Marie Sinclair\u2019s elderly parents are among buyers who purchased an apartment in the development, which they were told would be completed by December 2025. When she visited in September last year, she found doors with keys left unattended, graffitied walls, half-finished copper piping and multiple broken surfaces.<\/p>\n

Sinclair said after the building order was issued on Thursday \u201cit is really good news\u201d but she remained uncertain about the next steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes that mean they have eight months to have the rectifications completed? Also will purchasers need to wait eight more months before moving in?\u201d Sinclair said. \u201cFor many of us, this means more money and rent and storage fees for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bathla entered into voluntary administration last week with $3.3 billion in debts. For the past few days, administrators Teneo have been desperately trying to secure funding from private lenders<\/a> to pay the company\u2019s 350 staff by Thursday and finish its 45 construction projects.<\/p>\n

Teneo has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

When this masthead asked Bathla last month about the development, the company\u2019s spokesperson said 80 per cent of the 108 units had been sold off the plan and that buyers would be able to move in \u201cduring October or November\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn completion, the project will be handed to the buyers in great condition,\u201d the spokesperson said at the time.<\/p>\n

The NSW government on Thursday doubled down on its stance not to bail out Bathla, with Deputy Premier Prue Car saying they have to be very careful with taxpayers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be spending money that belongs to the people of NSW to bail out private creditors for a developer that has gone into administration or receivership,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are interested in what we can do for subcontractors and for home owners or potential home owners, but we\u2019re just not going to bail [Bathla] out because if we were to do that, the money would go to private creditors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just not going to do that. What about the workers who are owed millions in wages? What happens to that?\u201d<\/p>\n

With Max Maddison <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"EllieEllie Busby<\/a> is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"AnthonyAnthony Segaert<\/a> is the Parramatta bureau chief at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously an urban affairs reporter.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 3, 2026 \u2014 12:40pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":878193,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-878192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}