[5] A fissure on the 10th floor, millimetres wide, created a loud bang, and police were called at 2:45 pm on Christmas Eve over suspicion of a bomb.

Icon's parent company, Kajima Corporation of Japan, subsequently provided a 20-year warranty - three times greater than required in the state of NSW.

[14] In January 2019, there were reports that horizontal support beams in the structure were possibly "not strong enough to hold precast concrete panels installed on top of them."

[18] In February 2019, University Deans of Architecture completed an emergency report on the structure, with five recommendations, mainly that the government "create an official registry of engineers who would then be used to provide independent third-party certification of designs and on-site inspections during construction."

[21] This rapid spike in residential development has created community concern about the integrity and quality of large scale construction projects.

It became apparent that political decisions made by a development focused state planning minister, Anthony Roberts, could have played a factor in allowing for the under design and poor quality materials.

[22] Roberts was quick to respond, launching an investigation into compliance, adding two university engineering professors, advising them to complete a report into the cause and current stability of the building.

[23] Increased foreign investment and involvement - outsourcing of jobs and use of cheaper international materials - in Australia's development boom have heightened consumer concerns around the structural integrity of new, mass-produced residential buildings.

[25] The unprecedented amount of construction, for both residential properties and social infrastructure, created an opportunity for building industry players to exploit advantages of an expansion-focused city.

This leaves Sydney's housing market with sizeable amounts of new properties which are over priced, without the security of knowing if structural integrity and safety are assured.

[22] The lack of structural integrity of Opal Tower brings doubt to the housing market, in turn having a poor economic impact.

[23] A combination of city-wide high property prices and weak approval process for buildings constructed between 2012 and 2018 has a large impact on the return investment.

[28] Property owners as a result can struggle to find renters and will suffer a loss of investment because of structural issues as the building does not hold consumer confidence[29] The economic impacts go beyond individual wealth.

[30] The New South Wales government has decided to reform the building approval and oversight processes in an attempt to better secure consumer confidence and greater transparency in NSW's, particularly Sydney's, housing market.

A final report was published in early 2019, by Unisearch, listing material and structural design choices for the hob beams as the cause of damage.

[5] In February 2019, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) published an article discussing the incoming changes the high-rise laws, as a direct result of Opal Tower debacle.

[23] Property analysts spoke to the drop in consumer confidence, referring to the timing of Opal Tower's destabilisation as highly regrettable for the state-wide industry.

[35] Conclusions from their studies state that whilst most strata buildings have defects, state-wide improvement needs to address the consumer impact of conscious cost cutting, certification occurring too late in the development process and hesitance from government around intervention.

[36] Going forward, the University of New South Wales team has suggested increased transparency with buyers around construction quality, drawing on the current 'Five Star' rating system used for cars.