Water damage to new home

Hello everyone,

Our construction reached lock up stage mid December but over the holiday vandals got in flooded the entire house (upstairs and downstairs). They blocked all the drains and opened all the taps and broke all the smoke detectors. - The builder did not lock up the site before going on leave so there was easy access and the water taps were not locked.

During our visit of the site we found that over water flooded most rooms and turned off the water at the mains. We called the SS and together we vacuumed most of the water. SS made some holes in the ceilings to drain the water from the roof space.

SS made promises to get an inspection and remove _all_ the skirting boards, inspect the stairs, remove plaster boards (roof and wall) that were affected.

Over the holidays we noticed that they installed drying equipment (industrial fans) to dry out the place. They organised a disaster, cleanup and restoration company to inspector the property, take moisture readings and collect thermal images. Going on their report, SS organised removal of some of the plaster boards and some skirting boards.


The floor tiles had not been grouted and there was water in between the tiles.

When we asked him about removing all the affected skirting and plaster board he tells us that its not required as per the report.

The first floor chipboard flooring was completed saturated in certain areas but according to the SS the chipboard can get wet and does not need to be replaced. The upstairs skirting and door frames are not being removed even though the floors were saturated


We will be organising our own private inspector but concerned since time has passed the drying equipment might. be masking any underlying conditions. We have also found mould growing on the plaster in a few places.

We are completely disheartened by whats happened, this is our second construction thats gone bad. Apart from organising private inspection what else can we do in this situation?

Your private building consultant should have the skill to walk you through your issues and options. Make sure you select one with a lot of experience and proper qualifications.

update:
The builder removed a few plaster boards but for the rest of the boards they are just drying it out with the fans and monitoring the moisture percentage. For the places where moisture is now reporting ~20% they are suggesting that is fine

I had a look at the reports comparing the images taken between 26/12/23 and 8/1/24, some boards showed high moisture on the 26th and they were not removed just dried out and now the reading taken on the 8/1 shows lower moisture. The builder is saying that is fine but we are worried about the integrity of the plaster board and the frame behind the board.

I’d consider breaking in yourself and break all the plaster that needs replacing…

on a serious note get your own inspection, if the builder is not insured for this they will try to take short cuts.

I have recently inspected a large child care centre with numerous and persistent roof leaks.
The builder apparently received a sizeable payout from the insurer but has spent nothing on remedial works other than going around with a tube of silicone. The leaks continue.

The builder has to deliver the house, it’s unfortunate what happened.

Does builder have insurance for this?

The builder has taken out Domestic Building Insurance from VMIA. But looking at the policy it looks like we are covered only if
the builder has died or becomes insolvent or has disappeared or fails to comply with a Tribunal or Court Order

Shame calmer if you want to call it this left you the victim. Builders play judge jury and ecutioner eith tradesmen pockets sometimes. Whethere their fault or there just not financially/every motivated to combat, they will take other means

different insurance, besides, technically YOU have taken out the VMIA. Hence you are covered for XYZ. The builder should have tehir own insurance related to the property while they have posession.

Construction works insurance will cover the builder for insurable events (fire, flood, storm, wind damage) but will not cover the builder for own poor workmanship.

there was an event. The question is whether the builder had the insurance and whether the event was covered. The workmanship is a separate conversation.