Structural Warranty question - please help!

karmaz · Aug 20, 2015 4:24 pm

Built a new home with a volume builder and moved in 2011. In 2014, the pipe in front of our house started to leak. I contacted the volume builder who said it was not a structural defect (never thought a pipe leaking could be cosmetic!) and therefore not under warranty. After a lot of going back and forth I was told that it is their company policy to have our own plumber attend and then they would consider whether or not to accept the claim. The plumber attended, did not fix the issue but quoted $350 and the wanted a written report but would not pay for it. In the meanwhile, as water ran out on the street, my husband did a quick fix that temporarily stopped the leak. The volume builder said to contact them if the leak occurred again. It happened again yesterday. I contacted the builder and have now been told that as a third party attended, the warranty is void. I can't win, can I ? What do I do? With a small baby at home, I can't afford to turn off the mains and wait for the said builder to see that they are not making any sense. Please help, any suggestions are welcome... :cry:

Bonnie21 · Aug 20, 2015 9:42 pm

Im so sorry to hear that you are having problem with your builder. The first thing I would do is, ring MBA or HIA and ask for advise regarding structural warranty - as to whether the issue that you are experiencing is in fact under the warranty. If so, ask for the document to refer. Then send that to your builder.

Do you have your conversation with the builder on email? If so, you have the proof that they have asked you to get a plumber to look at it and then they changed about having third party inspecting your house.

If things go bad, you might consider placing a complaint to Fair Trading.

Glennc74 · Aug 23, 2015 11:45 am

That's rubbish the third party did no repair works , when you moved in and took ownership you would have recieved certificates of compliance for the plumbing works , I suggest you find them contact the relevant authority for the state you are in (eg VBA for Victoria ) and make a complaint for the defective workmanship .
Also try and get a statement from the attending plumber who quoted to fix the leak that he did no repair works only inspected the leak and quoted to fix it . Keep a track of the time you spend on this and bill them for the time it takes to be resolved ,