1000 dodgy bathrooms ripped out of apartment buildings

More than 1000 defective bathrooms have been ripped out of new apartment buildings around NSW, as part of building watchdog David Chandler’s war to get developers to lift standards.

A survey of 642 buildings found 53 per cent of strata buildings had defects.

More than 1000 defective bathrooms have been ripped out of new apartment buildings around NSW.

While there are still more to be demolished, the state’s building watchdog David Chandler said he believed his war on developers to lift standards was yielding results and he is now taking aim at developers installing unsafe — or unusable — fire systems.

The move follows a NSW government survey which found more than half of strata buildings have serious defects in common property, ranging from structural issues to inappropriate cladding.

Waterproofing topped the list of defects and Chandler said: “We hit waterproofing hard, pulling out more than 1000 bathrooms from new builds from 2020 to 2022 to ensure developers got the message.

“Our next big front in terms of serious defects will be fire safety systems and in the interest of the first responders who rely on these systems, dodgy installations are going to be ripped out.

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler in Strathfield. Picture: Tim Hunter

“I recently saw one project in Bondi where they decided the best place for a fire pump was four floors below street level. And when the brigade gets down there, they can’t even open the door properly.

“I get pretty exercised about the turkeys who install these systems without thinking about the people that come rescue them.”

Example of a defect found during a building development inspection.

The survey of 642 buildings found 53 per cent of strata buildings had a serious defect — up from 39 per cent in 2021, although Mr Chandler attributed part of the rise to a rising awareness among owners corporations.

More than 40 per cent of the defects related to poor waterproofing, with issues with fire safety systems accounting for 24 per cent of issues.

Defective doors, windows and facades made up 19 per cent of reported defects, with foundations, floors, footings and roof problems accounting for 15 per cent of issues.

Another 14 per cent of defects related to mechanical and plumbing problems.

A $19.8m unit development in the Hills Shire that has been ordered with an issue to “remediate the potential serious defects” by the building watchdog. 

Mr Chandler said he believed his “dob in a developer” program — Project Intervene — where owners’ corporations could report serious defects in the common property of residential apartment buildings of up to 10 years old, was shaking up the industry.

Once a building is reported the commissioner can negotiate with builders and developers to fix the build or compel them to under NSW Fair Trading powers.

“We know there are a significant number of buildings out there that have serious defects — that’s what Project Intervene is about,” Mr Chandler said.