A top engineer is insisting everyone needs to calm down over Mascot Towers until the cause of the building defects is determined.

Mascot Towers was evacuated on June 14 after engineers discovered structural cracks in the 10-year-old apartment complex, forcing residents to find other accommodation.

The situation has prompted widespread outrage, as residents are forced to foot the $1-million repair bill with little help from the state government.

But Charles Rickard, principal of Rickard Engineering, tells Alan Jones we shouldn’t be blaming anyone until we fully understand the cause of the defects.

“We all need to calm down though, Alan… a lot of that media coverage is from people outside the industry. 

“We’ve all jumped to conclusions… if it is, in fact, settling into the ground due to a change in the water table, it is not the builder’s fault, it’s not the developer’s fault, it could well be next door’s fault, and it may still be a building defect, but until we get to the truth all we’re doing is hurting people for no good reason.”

But Alan wasn’t on board with the view that the residents who have lost their homes should ‘calm down’.

“You’re asking people to calm down, and may I respectfully say Charles, so should you… you can’t tell a person who bought an apartment there, who now today faces the prospect of having a mortgage over his head and no asset and has nowhere to live to calm down.

“If it was you, you’d be angry and so would I.”

Click PLAY below to hear the heated exchange