The building has been given an interim occupation certificate, allowing the hotel to open despite its balconies appearing very different to approved plans.

Eastern Developments' first development application approved in 2017 included screens across some of the balconies to break up the bulk of the building.

When the balconies were built, the screens were missing and Eastern Developments submitted a modification in June to legalise the design, but the council insisted on screens in a different design.

Screen designs approved by Orange City Council...

Four months later, the balconies remain unchanged and Quest opened on Monday.

The Central Western Daily made several attempts to contact Eastern Developments director Jim Saran on Thursday.

Orange City Council spokesman Nick Redmond said council staff routinely monitored progress on the construction of any new building.

"The progress on the new Quest building has reached the point where an interim occupation certificate could been issued, even though not all of the conditions of the DA have yet been met," he said.

Changes to state government legislation from December will mean partial occupation certificates issued will come with a condition requiring the remainder of the building to be completed within five years.

Mr Redmond said under the current arrangements, there was no time limit and a certificate could not be revoked.

"Council can serve an order to comply with the consent [and] an applicant can apply for a modification," he said.

"There is no modification before council relating to this development, so it's expected the applicant would comply with the existing consent."

Quest will lease the building from Eastern Developments for the next 30 years.

The building includes 77 apartments, gym and conference room - the two ground floor retail tenancies are still on the market.

Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...