Question:
I bought a brand new house in 2005 and, as with all new homes, it is covered by a five year structural warranty.

Within months of purchase I created a snag-list for the developers. However, they ignored most of the issues listed. They only looked at the leaky gutters (one year warranty) after the one year period meaning that nothing could be done. The developers replaced the hollow tiles (one of the points on the snag list) at their cost and also provided new tiles in the lounge and kitchen areas as they couldn't find a match with the existing tiles. There was also an issue with drainage which they supplied and installed at their cost. It is still ineffective.

The developers seemed to have ignored most of the important points on the snag-list and when I queried issues such as the interior cracks they said it was a maintenance issue rather than a structural one.

I then raised the issue with the local National Home Builder's Registration Council (NHBRC) office and only received a reply after almost two years. The email contact person on their website had left and in the interim the developer appointed their own engineer. This engineer filed his report without entering my home and the NHBRC closed my file based on his report.

I cried foul and at the NHBRC's cost an unbiased engineer was appointed. Being quite aged, he could not go into the roof to make a report on the cracks and a few other things. He based his report on the developer's engineer's inspection of my roof. There is still no transparency here and I feel that the NHBRC is biased.

I paid another structural engineer to visit my home for his opinion which is that my issues are of a structural nature.

Is there any manner in which I can escalate this? Your advice in this matter would be much appreciated.

Answer:
I personally had an issue with a property I bought and experienced similar frustration with the NHBRC.

Every builder that is registered with them pays fees and these fees are supposed to help individuals who have been taken for a ride by developers. However, the process of getting the NHBRC to help is so arduous and frustrating that most people just give up. I am almost convinced that complaints are just piled up in some room and left to gather dust because I have yet to hear about a single soul deriving any recourse from this utterly useless organization (Ah yes, I'll probably get a nasty email from them now).

This will take even more time and effort, but the only way to get action is to contact the top guy at the association and nag him to the point of distraction. I'm sorry, but there is no justice and governing bodies (in most industries) appear to be toothless mirages. You may have to write this off to experience.

One way to get resolution is to contact the body corporate and get them to exert some pressure on the developer.

I have noticed of late that developers are becoming increasingly lax about the quality of workmanship and they really do not care about your problems. This is why it’s always a good idea to hold back at least 10 percent until you are 100 percent happy.

You could also find out who the big cheese is at the building company and nag him. It takes perseverance, but it may be worth the effort.

I learned the hard way and will never buy a property in a new development again — it’s just too risky. I challenge any developer out there to give me a compelling reason why I should say otherwise.