Building watchdog to step up compliance as one in two homes found with defects

One in two freestanding homes that have undergone a building inspection during construction or after completion in the past year have been found to have defects.

A construction site for an house in North Willoughby. One in two freestanding homes that have undergone inspection during construction or after completion in the past year have been found to have defects. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

One in two freestanding homes that have undergone a building inspection during construction or after completion in the past year have been found to have defects.

Defects have also been found in almost one in four multistorey apartment complexes, with the NSW Building Commission issuing six stop work orders, 12 prohibition orders and 106 for building work rectifications.

The Commission is preparing to step up its “dogged” pursuit of cowboy players with inspections to increase and developers who fail to comply taken to court.

The most common defects for detached homes – or so-called “class 1” buildings – have involved internal and external waterproofing issues and incomplete building work.

Unit complex defects tended to involve incorrect installation of fire safety systems, defective fire separation to prevent the spread of flames within buildings, and waterproofing flaws.

The Commission inspected almost 1,100 new buildings over the 12 months to March, issuing more than 500 orders for shoddy work to be fixed.

NSW Building Commissioner James Sherrard. Picture: John Appleyard

A Schmidt Hammer testing concrete.

Inspections were undertaken in 658 freestanding homes with 379 rectification orders issued, while 124 orders were issued after 437 inspections of “class 2” multistorey apartment buildings.

NSW Building Commissioner James Sherrard said the high defect strike rate was due to a “high proportion” of inspections being conducted on the back of complaints, or “intelligence” the agency had received about a player in the industry or a particular site.

“This means inspectors expect to find defects during inspections and as a result issue orders to have those defects rectified,” he said.

Mr Sherrard said inspections would be stepped up in the next 12 months with the Commission adopting new techniques such as the “Schmidt Hammer test” to gauge building work quality. A Schmidt Hammer is a device to measure the elastic properties or strength of concrete or rock, mainly surface hardness and penetration resistance.

In a recent compliance blitz using the test, the Commission identified concrete quality related defects in 12 apartment buildings across NSW.

While the high number of defects being found would be of concern to the government given its push to significantly bolster housing stock, the Commission believes its compliance regime will help instil confidence among homebuyers.

In recent months, the Commission has increasingly been taking cowboy developers to court with two prosecutions in March alone resulting in close to $600,000 in court issued fines being handed to dodgy players.

Building Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the Commission – which began inspecting freestanding homes at the start of last year – was playing a critical role in protecting homeowners from unscrupulous developers.

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Originally published as Building watchdog to step up compliance as one in two homes found with defects