Hi, Need advice re drummy tiles, and builder liability. Project Home builder in NSW built home 5 years ago, so still in warranty period. Last year about 70% of floor tiles became drummy, so complained to builder, and accepted offer for the tiler who did job originally to come and inject latex stuff under tiles. Well, approx 6 months later tiles are drummy again. Managing agent says we should claim on builder warranty insurance and demand floor be lifted and replaced. But reading up on process we can only claim if they go broke etc. Correct? We are about to tell them repair did not work and we want tiles lifted and replaced. Problem is drummy floor tiles can be a gray area as it is not technically "structural", BUT they did accept responsibility for problem by attempting to fix it. Before taking them on, any thoughts would be welcome, especially re whether tiles are covered by 6 yr period, and whether as they already took responsibility, we can argue they need to fix it properly. And how likely are they to lift and replace floor - we are willing to have good floating floor put down instead if it helps? Surely they would want to avoid us taking them to tribunal/Fair Trading? Thanks
The products which the builder/tiler used come with a warranty, it is not outside of your expectations that the tiles will remain glued to a floor for a long time (well beyond any warranty) and for as long as the tiles are serviceable. Get back onto the builder to rectify, if they don't then you will need to go down the path of Fair Trading (tribunal). Insurance only kicks in if they pass away, go bankrupt or do a runner.
An installed fixture isnt necessarily part of the building. Its like carpet - Can be installed at completion. May be an Australian Consumer Law warranty issue esp if recently fixed (or attempted)
