Two Canberrans won more than $380,000 in damages after suing a builder and a seller over the shoddy build of a Macgregor home.
In July 2009 a woman contracted construction company Hanson Australasia Pty Ltd to build the two-storey, four-bedroom house.
A man and a woman arranged to buy the property from the woman in April 2010, before the home was finished. But they began to notice problems shortly after settlement, about three months later.
The problems, identified by an engineer's report tendered during the litigation, included rising damp caused by the faulty installation of a vapour barrier, a balcony that directed water into the house, roof faults that allowed water in and cracked concrete in the garage.
An indoor staircase was "potentially unsafe" because the heights and lengths of the steps were "inconsistent", the engineer's report said.
Further defects included poor plastering, which required re-plastering of nearly all the walls and replacement of some, as well as poor painting throughout using low quality paint.
A builder's report tendered by the buyers during the litigation said even if he made the repairs identified, there might be more and he could not guarantee the home's structural soundness.
"The preferable and safer option is that the property be demolished and rebuilt due to potential additional structural deficiencies such as the lack of reinforcement in the foundations and concrete slabs."
When the pair first noticed the defects they approached the builder Hanson Australasia for repairs. They got this message back:
"Hanson Australasia is not the builder of these premises.
"[The seller] utilised the services of my building company in a limited way to source building materials at cost and to source suitable contractors who performed services directly for [her]. [She herself] was the builder of the property and all matters relating to rectification need to be referred directly to [her]."
The pair sued the company for a breach of statutory warranty over the quality of the work and build. They also sued for misleading and deceptive conduct, namely falsely representing, as the contracted builder, that it would supervise the build. The couple also sued its sole director for ancillary liability for misleading or deceptive conduct.
They sued the seller for a breach of contract and a breach of warranty, again over the quality of the property's build.
The pair had won a default judgment against the seller in the ACT Magistrates Court in February 2013. "In addition," Justice David Mossop noted on Wednesday's damages decision, "despite being aware of the ongoing proceedings, the [seller] has taken no active part in the proceedings since that date." Judgment was entered by consent against the builder and its director in September 2016.
On Wednesday, the ACT Supreme Court's Justice Mossop entered judgment for the couple against the builder, its director and the seller for a shared $346,770. The seller was ordered to pay an extra $39,440 in relation to further contractual breaches.
The total amount awarded by Justice Mossop was $386,210.
The case returns to court on July 19 for argument over costs.