Faulty Towers
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday February 24, 2000
Costs soar as construction problems hit Sydney's high rises, writes Harvey Grennan.
Up to $15 million per building is being spent rectifying construction problems in Sydney's rash of new apartment buildings.
While the Premier, Bob Carr, has called for better design of city apartment blocks - a call echoed by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects - many unit owners are engaged in long-running battles with developers and builders to rectify costly
building faults.
Many are losing the fight as they run out of time and money and are accusing the Department of Fair Trading of failing to protect them.
"People think buying a unit off-the-plan is like buying a car: they are getting a reasonably reliable product," says property consultant Jerry Tyrrell. "Even though they are brand new, there is always defective and incomplete work in unit complexes."
The most costly problems are waterproofing, ventilation and acoustic issues, he says.
The cost of rectifying one of Sydney's first luxury high-rise apartment blocks has run into millions. Details are shrouded in a secrecy agreement between the owners' association, the developer and the builder. Problems reported by owners included plumbing and electrical faults and noise from adjoining units. The body corporate is believed to have spent $250,000 in legal expenses.
Owners of a unit complex at Pyrmont have been engaged in a long-running battle with another major construction company. A building report in the strata records lists water penetration from outside sources, faulty bathroom tiling, leaking showers and basins, deficient ventilation of wet areas and cracked walls. The builder carried out some work but refused to document what had been done, according to the strata manager.
The owners' corporation has just resolved to re-tile the common areas at its own cost, but owners have been left to rectify their units.
The Department of Fair Trading met the builder but refused to act, the manager said. "The department said we were out of time to report the problems. The owners were not even invited to the meeting. They are totally outraged."
Another complex had major structural defects, the strata manager said, but the Department of Fair Trading had demanded pre-settlement inspection reports from every owner before it would look at the claim. "Imagine how hard it is to get a report from all those owners."
Tyrrell agrees: "The statutory process of enforcing rectification is slow and expensive."
Other examples of unsatisfactory work shown by Tyrrells Property Inspections:
* A landmark apartment block has leaking windows with messy sealant repairs, unsatisfactory stormwater drainage and serious noise transmission between units.
* A near-city block has chronic leaks from faulty cavity flashings, the pool leaks, the courtyard leaks into garages and there is insufficient space in ceilings for services. The builder sued the developer. The developer alleged the builder had not fixed the defects. The owners are still waiting.
* More than $500,000 has been spent mainly on waterproofing a beachfront block in the suburbs. Some masonry walls were built without cavities, roof tiles were not resistant to salt air and steel frames quickly rusted.
"The more complex the building," says Tyrell, "the more extensive the problems [and] getting developers and builders to properly fix up or complete the building is very difficult. There is always high drama."
The chairman of a high-rise body corporate, claims developers often stay as members of the body corporate. "One very big developer has a clause in its contracts which says the owners' association may not serve notice on the vendor to rectify faults on more than two occasions and they must be served within six months of completion. Most body corporates just can't afford to take them on."
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald