Faults appearing a year after building. What course of action??

Hi guys, Our house was built by AHB almost a year ago. Cracks in the cornices started to appear within a month of the handover of the property. Since then the builders have filled the cracks couple times. But the cracks keep reappearing. And this time they are bigger. Also, gaps started to appear between the garage floor and walls. And the garage door for backyard has started to jam. The pillar in the alfresco is showing signs of cracking as well.

I raised it with the builders and the builder sent an inspector of their own. The builders are now saying that it's causing because of the movement of the slab due to the water pooling on the side of the property. I have attached a photo of the side for you to have a look.

There are some green stains can be seen on the ground which indicates waterlogging. The builders are saying that water is going under the slab and causing the movement. And they are putting the blame on me for that. However, I paid them for a turnkey package and landscaping was their responsibility too. Now if they haven't leveled the ground properly to create slope for the rainwater to trend away from the foundation of the building, can they blame me for that? They are saying my tenants could have moved soil which is ridiculous.

The builder is willing to fix the cracks for now but asking me to sort the grading/leveling of the ground. Also, they are not treating the gap between the garage floor and walls as an issue.

Should I hire an independent inspector now and get a report on the cause? The bulders are trying to avoid the responsibility and I feel I have to run around a lot with this issue. The independent inspector might produce a report in favour of me but I still have to fight with the builders and at this point, it looks like I might even have to go to VICAT (court). Are there organisers who could do all these on behalf of me? Do they charge a fortune?

Also, are there specialist inspectors who specialise on post built faults? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Yes, you do need to hire an independent inspector if there is a dispute.

Do you need a referral?

Also have you checked against the Guide to Standards and Tolerances? Not every crack is a fault.

 

No, I haven't checked. The builders are saying if the crack is wider than 1mm they will fix it.
And yes I need a referral for an inspector, please. Please only refer me to one if you know they are good. The one we used for our building was crappy.

 

Do you know what type of slab you have? Waffle or raft?

 

Jeez! I never knew there were two different types.

 

Ask the builder, he should know. Waffle requires a concrete path around the perimeter of the house as water severely effects the slab.

 

This is the same house as the swollen laminate flooring? What a nightmare for you..

I would be inclined to engage a structural engineer.. they will be able to advise you on the movement and the flooring.
Looking at your photos I could probably spend an hour writing about and referencing documents which address drainage, footing performance etc. I'd recommend an engineer undertake a full assessment who will consider many possible influencing factors..

 

Hi guys, we have hired an independent building inspector. And the inspector identified the non-grading of soil around the house as the main issue and also told us that the previous inspector failed to do their job properly by not being able to identify the issue (water logging due to ground not being leveled properly and slab moved, as a result causing crackings).

Apart from dealing with the builders (I will report this to you separately) the new builder has advised us to ask for a refund of fees for the inspection from the previous inspectors because they failed to identify the issue. I raised it with the previous inspectors but they are refusing to return the fees calling the issue "not a defect". The new inspector is suggesting that we go to the insurers of the previous inspector and make our claim under professional indemnity insurance.

Does anyone know what is the procedure in that case.

Thank you in advance.

 

Yes mate and there are more issues I am dealing with regarding the house which I don't want to bother you with .

 

I feel the pain when I read this....

gap fill and sell …

 

You cant claim on someone's PI. You can initiate a legal claim for damages attributable to their negligence and they will use their insurer to defend or pay the claim. They claim. They usually need to do this asap so they arent personally liable and the insurer denies any claim. So it could become you v the insurer since they manage and control what happens. Its requires legal advice. The legal claim is what acts as a trigger.

 

That's criminal

 

Are they building inspectors are building suveyors?

 

Nup! Civil.