“Just this morning I was at an apartment in Collingwood. The bathrooms are non-compliant, the balcony too, which will now be a pretty serious headache (for the owner). That’s common,” he said.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a stand-alone house, a small block of flats or a dense apartment complex – or whether the contractor is a small operator or a major builder – there are always issues at the end of construction, he said.

Building inspector Zeher Khalil, founder of the national firm Site Inspections, says he finds defects in every new home he checks.
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While he’s seen it all over the years, Mr Khalil still finds it hard to believe the sheer extent of problems given how much Australians pay for their homes.

“Last week, I was in Sydney and I inspected a home that was selling for $2.5 million,” he said. “Essentially the whole thing was noncompliance. Roofing, waterproofing, water going into the kitchen, guttering, leaks … you name it.

“That’s a minimum of $100,000 to correct. Someone will have to allow for that. It’s a huge problem. And when you’re building a new home, what are you meant to do – expect you’ll have to pay more on top to fix problems, or take the builder to court? It’s crazy.”

Authorities in Victoria have begun naming and shaming serious offenders in a bid to shock the industry into lifting its game.

The NSW Building Commission publishes a rolling list of work rectification orders it issues to builders and developers, which makes for sober reading.

A recent case saw the watchdog identify 54 serious defects in one of three buildings in the Kingston Quarter development in Meadowbank in Sydney’s northwest, which was built just four years ago.

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This apartment complex in Meadowbank has a litany of serious defects.
The site at 20 Nancarrow Avenue, developed by Holdmark, has a litany of issues relating to fire safety, waterproofing, and structural faults.

Among them, evidence of cracking in the basement and on the 10th floor, as well as “uncontrolled cracking of a critical transfer beam supporting the upper floors” on level one.

Despite the issues, homes in the complex still command a pretty penny, with a two-bedroom unit recently selling for $875,000.

On the Lower North Shore, buyers in the Jacota complex at 9 Young Street in ritzy Neutral Bay have been plagued by problems since construction was completed six years back.


Among 30 different defects recently identified by the NSW Building Commission are serious breaches of federal building standards, with several relating to fire safety.

The rectification order also noted “significant cracking” in the main car park and “uncontrolled cracking of four millimetres and greater in the basement’s concrete slabs.

“Some cracks have migrated through the full depth of the basement slabs, with water penetrating through,” it warned.

In exclusive Vaucluse in the eastern suburbs, the bougie Amara development at 43 Captain Pipers Road, a boutique collection of four townhouses and two penthouse apartments, has issues with waterproofing that have led to significant dampness.

Its fire safety measures are also not up to scratch.

The Amara complex in Vaucluse is one recently hit with a rectification order.

Experts conservatively estimate that half of all new apartment developments across NSW have at least one serious defect, but it’s not just units where issues arise.

Major home builder Frasers has been under fire after it emerged 92 per cent of properties developed in a new estate in Shell Cove on the state’s South Coast have some kind of defect.

The NSW Building Commission said the fact 325 of the 354 homes built since 2019 have issues, mostly to do with waterproofing, is “shocking”.

Some are so bad that affected residents are unable to occupy parts of their homes.

Frasers, a global conglomerate run out Singapore, has pledged to rectify all identified defects, but conceded it could take up to two years.

Those homeowners battling defects obviously face serious and long-running financial challenges in pursuit of justice and an adequate resolution.

But Dr Daniel said the consequences go much further than that.

“There are implications for people’s mental health and wellbeing while living with these issues, so depression and anxiety and so on,” she said.

“There are a whole range of health issues that arise from mould, whether it’s respiratory disease or the exacerbation of asthma.

“But I think it’s really worth remembering that it’s not just new builds, but existing homes as well.”

Almost all of the houses in a new estate were found to have defects.

Other research conducted by AHURI found four out of five Australian homes are too cold during winter, according to international standards set by the World Health Organisation.

And those battling insufficient heating or defects that expose them to the elements often have few, if any means to rectify the problems.

Take renters in the private market, for example, who mostly have to put up with freezing.   

Lebanese, Chinese, Indian, Arab, Irish builders.