Developers are battling over the proposed Tower Melbourne at 150 Queen Street.
A developer embroiled in a dispute with the builders of the CBD's tallest residential tower has taken Victoria's building regulator to court alleging it lacked impartiality.
A wealthy, Singapore-based, property investment family has filed the Supreme Court action against the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) over its decision to allow the removal of a private building surveyor appointed to a neighbouring development.
The Chow family's Colonial Range company has plans to construct a 27-level mixed-use office, retail and residential building at 140 Queen Street and 27 McKillop Street in the heart of Melbourne's CBD.
Next door, listed Singapore-based Chip Eng Seng's CEL Australia has plans for a soaring, controversial, $170-million project called Tower Melbourne whose 555 apartments will rise 71 storeys above a site at 150 Queen Street.
The court dispute involving the deep-pocketed and influential Singaporean developers centres around the VBA's decision to terminate the appointment of one private building surveyor on the Tower Melbourne project and replace them with another.
Under Victoria's semi-privatised building permit system, private surveyors are commonly appointed for the life of a project to avoid ''forum shopping'' - a practice where a builder shops around for a surveyor more likely to provide them with what they want.
Under the state's building laws only the VBA can terminate a surveyor's appointment and there must be no hint of ''dispute between the owner and the building surveyor''.
Court documents filed by Colonial Range allege at the time there was a dispute between the surveyor and Tower Melbourne's builder. The case is believed to be the first time the authority has been challenged over the issue.
''The termination of the private building surveyor while Building Appeal Board proceedings were on foot challenging the decisions of that building surveyor, has created confusion and a legal minefield,'' Colonial Range's lawyer, John Hoey, said.
''The proceeding goes to the heart of the privatised building permit system and whether it can be manipulated without scrutiny,'' he said.
CEL Australia's Tim Pearce would not comment.
Fairfax Media reported two weeks ago that Colonial Range was embroiled in another dispute with Tower Melbourne. Colonial Range lodged a formal complaint with the state's Ombudsman saying Planning Minister Matthew Guy's approval of the tower had adversely impacted on its development.
About two years ago, the VBA, then known as the Building Commission, was the subject of scathing Ombudsman and Auditor-General reports following a Fairfax Media probe of extravagant spending and other irregularities by senior commission employees.
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