Felmeri Homes placed in administration with clients in the dark

Dozens of South Australians have been left pleading for answers and wondering who will now fix a series of problems with their homes.

An Adelaide home builder was placed under external administration on Friday after several issues with their projects were uncovered.

Customers of Felmeri Homes, which is based at Wayville, have been left searching for answers amid claims of poor workmanship and lengthy delays.

Dozens have been left in the lurch by the local company, which is now being investigated by Consumer and Business Services South Australia.

The customers claim to have experienced issues with their new homes and said they have faced construction delays.

Damien Oates, a customer of Felmeri Homes, was not surprised to hear the company had been placed under administration.

“I find that extremely interesting,” he said.

The homeowner met with the general manager on Thursday and was told a plumber would be sent out next week to fix issues at his house.

“I’m concerned the issues won’t be fixed now,” he said.

“I’m going to be making other arrangements.”

Mr Oates and his and partner Bianca, started having issues with their home when it flooded on May 2 and May 3 – about five days after they moved in.

Pictures show considerable flooding at the Mansfield Park home. Picture: Supplied

The damage has left the young family in the lurch. Picture: Supplied

The couple called a plumbing inspector who determined that a blocked drain was causing sewage to flow into the house due to a non-compliant fitting.

As a result of the issues, the couple – and their newborn son – have had to move into a family members home.

“We are for the most part homeless,” he said.

Mr Oates explained the experience as heartbreaking, saying it was especially difficult given his son was born a day later.

“You sort of feel robbed of something exciting,” he said.

“It becomes extremely overwhelming.”

Mr Oates said he is concerned about the number of people that will now be left without a ready-built home now that the company is under administration.

“There are families out there that may need to find a new builder,” he said.

31-year-old Jessica Harrison has experienced delays with the building complaining since signing a build contact in June 2020.

Almost three years later, the southern suburbs woman said she still hasn’t been handed the keys to her O’Halloran Hill home.

Jessica Harrison signed a contract to have her first home built by Felmeri Homes in 2020. Picture: Keryn Stevens

“My house is pretty well complete, but the roadway into the estate isn’t, so there are no services into the estate,” she said.

The homeowner said the project has been at a standstill since December 2021.

The building company told The Advertiser on Thursday that labour and supply shortages have caused the project delays.

“There has been delays, we’re not going to hide from that,” the manager said.

“The price of materials and labour is ultimately the downfall in all of this.”

He also said referred to the issues with Mr Oates house as “a comedy of errors”.

The manager claimed that the client, who “understood there was a blocked drain” – caused by “vandalism” and tiles being pushed down the train – had a shower.

Mr Oates denied this and said he has evidence that they didn’t know the house would flood.

“I also have proof that vandalism wasn’t involved,” he said.

Calls to Felmeri Homes on Saturday were not answered.

Originally published as Felmeri Homes placed in administration with clients in the dark