A Canberra family who paid $396,000 for their dream home were living a “nightmare” as they claimed the building company left them waiting on necessary building certificates, creating a lengthy fight for them to move in.
Noah* said his family started building the home in the inner north suburb of Watson in January 2020 but shortly after signing the contract with Sienna Homes the company was sold to a new operator called Ray Investments.
“All conditions of the contract were the same and I didn’t think too much about it but pretty much immediately everything started falling apart,” he told news.com.au.
The 34-year-old claims every stage of the build had “issues” and alleges Ray Investments struggled to pay tradies and suppliers.
“We had three electricians, two carpenters, several different tilers and mainly because the subcontractor would come in, do the work and then invoices wouldn’t be paid and then the (company) would get someone else in to finish the work and every time it happened it got worse and worse,” he says.
During the build in September 2020, the project was also slapped with a stop work notice by the ACT Government due to building work not being carried out as per the approved plans, which Noah claims created even more issues.
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Despite text messages from the company saying it was aiming for the family to take possession before the end of July, it did not happen.
Noah said he was forced to pay trades to rectify defects inside the home leaving him an estimated $4000 out of pocket in addition to the contract price.
Yet, he still faced an uphill battle to get into the house.
“We couldn’t legally take possession as the trades that haven’t been paid (by the company) were refusing to give a certificate of compliance, which means we couldn’t get a certificate of occupancy,” he says.
Noah says he sent a string of messages to the building company pleading for news on the certificates, many of which went unanswered.
“I am waiting on payment from one of my other builds to make the final payments to get your certificates,” a text message from Ray Investments sent on July 22 this year reads.
On August 1, Noah was told in a text message the building company is “waiting in (sic) final payments on another job to pay outstanding bills to get your certificates. Will be soon but can’t give you a deadline”.
But a request from Noah for all the certificates that were available to be provided did not materialise, despite his claims the company agreed to make it happen.
News.com.au’s call, text message and emails to Ray Investments did not receive a response.
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Noah was building the home with his wife to live in with their daughter, but the stressful experience had contributed to their relationship breakdown, he says.
“It’s a pretty significant contributor to the divorce but at the moment both myself and my ex-wife are in temporary accommodation with family and we are bouncing our four-and-a-half year old daughter between us,” he said.
“The stress has been outrageous.”
Out of desperation, Noah reached out to some of the tradies in an attempt to obtain the certificates himself.
“I needed 10 certificates in total. I have about four of them and the (company) hasn’t provided any and are refusing to provide them and refusing to give the name of the subcontractors,” he says.
In a letter sent by Noah’s lawyers to Ray Investments in May 2020, it noted that the house was due for practical completion by 9 July 2020.
Failure by the company to reach this date meant a liquidated damages cause in the contract would be activated meaning Ray Investment would owe the couple $500 per week until the house was complete.
In response, Ray Investments acknowledged that “any delay will attract a penalty of $500 per week” and advised they expected a delay of one to two weeks for the practical completion date of July 2020.
However, the delays blew out which has seen a sum of more than $53,000 owed to the couple by October this year.
Noah adds it has been a “horrible” experience and it has included dealing with abusive text.
In discussion with the building company in July, Noah sought to organise a landscaper to come to the property.
He claims he asked the building company if the site would be fully clean because if it wasn’t ready he would “incur additional costs” for the landscaper to “clear the site which I will look to pass on to you,” he wrote in a text message.
He claims a “shocking” reply was received: “I suggest you stop being a f**kwit.”
Noah asked for apology and said any further abusive or threatening messages would be immediately referred to the authorities.
“Shocking is an understatement – to be honest it reinforced just how little power you have as a client,” Noah said about the abusive text message.
The 34-year-old also claims it has even been “horrendous” trying to get the ACT government to take action when he has complained about the building company.
He says to take the company to court himself could cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to lawyers he consulted, with no guarantee of a resolution.
“The ACT government do nothing, but the cost to clients of building companies holding these people to account is astronomically high,” he added.
Noah says he had been left in limbo and gave up on receiving the trade’s certificates from the building company.
Instead, he applied for special consideration from the ACT government to inspect the house, paying a building approval fee that cost thousands, which would allow him to get the green light to move in.
Noah says he had reported his experience to a number of authorities as well as the ACT Government but had only been left frustrated.
“It’s just been incredibly disappointing on all fronts. A complete lack of interest, constant buck passing, and everything stops at the first obstacle,” he said.
Noah added the experience had cost him “a lot of money and time” but he had been able weather the storm, but was worried a similar situation would leave some people “financially destitute”.
He recently moved into the home, although he said he was still encountering minor problems.
“A final quirk – the builder has refused to provide any remotes such as airconditioning, garage doors etc. So I’m having to source replacements now,” he said.
“The ACT Government did issue a certificate of occupancy as a result of my individual advocacy and pushing. This means the builder has essentially walked away from all of his responsibilities without any consequences and remains licensed in the ACT.”
An ACT Government spokesperson said Access Canberra is aware of the matter but does not provide details of individual matters in line with the Privacy Act.
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“Complaints are assessed by Access Canberra’s Complaints Management Team and referred to the Rapid Regulatory Response Team or the Building Investigations Team when required,” they said.
“All regulatory complaints are assessed in accordance with the Access Canberra accountability commitment and the building and construction services compliance framework.”
*Name changed for privacy reasons
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