Kevin’s new dream home became riddled with mould. Then he got the bill

The Bezzinas were sold on ANSA Homes’ promise. “We take pride in our homes,” Kevin Bezzina, 41, says he was told.

The pitch was of a small- to medium-home builder who took the utmost care, focusing on their client’s individual needs. For Kevin and his wife Sonia, who were looking for a custom build in the southern Sydney suburb of Lugarno, the company’s word was gold.

ANSA Homes client Kevin Bezzina points to defective brickwork which was subject to a Building Commission-enforced rectificiation order.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Three years on, the Bezzinas are not certain their house is free of mould, which festered after the timber framework was left exposed to months of rain.

Despite two Building Commission-enforced rectification orders, one for the mould and another for non-compliant brickwork, the Bezzinas were hit with a bill for $61,000 attached to a partial occupation certificate.

In the midst of 60-day building licence suspension and facing several legal challenges, ANSA Homes continues to pursue clients for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The couple is just one client stuck in limbo after the ANSA’s licence was suspended by the Building Commission amid allegations of delays, defects, and regulator-enforced rectification orders being ignored.

Run by Mark and Dylan Maloney, ANSA faces legal challenges in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal as clients try to recoup their losses.

A Building Commission insider, who is not permitted to speak publicly, said the threshold to upgrade the Edmonson Park builder’s suspension to a cancellation had been reached weeks ago.

The regulator, which will announce a replacement for retired building commissioner David Chandler within days, was waiting for ANSA Homes’ suspension to expire in late August to formally announce the cancellation, the source said.

The Maloneys have begun selling ANSA assets, including head office for $1.6 million, while pursuing payment from clients with unfinished homes, of which is all legal in NSW.

‘It appears that [the Bezzinas] are using the hostile publicity engendered by your newspaper articles as a pretext to avoid payment.’

A statement from a lawyer for ANSA Homes

Through lawyers, the Maloneys said the Bezzinas’ mould issue had been resolved. ANSA declined to release the mould report.

“ANSA has no obligation to ‘release’ or to ‘verify’ anything. What we have told you is factual,” ANSA Homes’ lawyer said.

“The building work was completed. There is no ‘litany of outstanding work’ as your email suggests. The final invoice was rendered by ANSA and the owners have not paid it. The money is owing to ANSA and it appears that the owners are using the hostile publicity engendered by your newspaper articles as a pretext to avoid payment.”

The Maloneys previously denied wrongdoing. Mark said: “Like all building businesses, we were not immune to the industry-wide supply chain and labour constraints. These challenges have presented an ongoing challenge.”

Kevin Bezzina has a new bill from ANSA Homes despite not being satisfied rectification has occurred. Credit: Wolter Peeters

The Bezzinas’ efforts to obtain the mould clearance report from Safety & Environmental Services Australia were unsuccessful. It said: “Dylan from ANSA Homes did not provide permission for SESA to release the report.”

On Monday, ANSA hit the Bezzinas with a notice to proceed with adjudication for the outstanding bill.

Liberal Oatley MP Mark Coure, who has been assisting the Bezzinas since May 2023, said their case was emblematic of a broken regulatory system in NSW, and called on Building Minister Anoulack Chanthivong to help families who “have been failed” by the Building Commission.

“The Bezzina family have been left in the lurch for more than a year now because ANSA Homes it seems were able to operate with impunity here in NSW,” Coure said.

“Instead of swift action to support families like the Bezzina family, we saw the Commission issue rectification order after rectification order for months, allowing ANSA to create significant financial impacts for the family and foster uncertainty about the future of their home.”

Those who commenced court proceedings on the advice of the Building Commission after ANSA’s licence was suspended face a fight to try and salvage something of their homes, with the next hearings scheduled in December.

Clients who have racked up legal fees also criticised the Building Commission. One wrote to the Commission’s chief investigator on Monday.

“I have to be honest and let you know I should have just tried to deal with ANSA and not get the Building Commission involved as it has put me in a much worse position, both financially and mentally,” the client wrote.

Chanthivong accused the Liberals of leaving behind a “previous government’s patchwork of regulations and regulators”.

“It has left a legacy of defective work and a rump of bad builders grifting consumers. Reversing the decade the NSW building sector spent with a wild-west style regulatory regime is going to take time but we’re getting on with it,” he said.

A spokesman said the Building Commission was “working hard” to finalise an investigation into ANSA Homes to provide certainty for affected customers and the builder.

“Building Commission NSW acknowledges the difficult situation consumers are facing due to the alleged conduct of ANSA Homes and the temporary licence suspension,” he said.

It declined to provide an update about the status of the investigation into ANSA.

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