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Graham Hooper vs Metricon - a win for all of us!

In breaking news today, Graham Hooper has won a law suit against Metricon for shoddy slab work. The payout $289,589.65 which covers "the demolition and reconstruction of the house and the loss of rental income". The house is in Tarneit.

Source: http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/finding/residential-investment/house-and-land/29806-metricon-ordered-to-pay-home-owner-faulty-build.html 

"In 2006, as the home was being constructed, Hooper and surveyors found that the slab was built to an incorrect height. Rather than restarting construction, Metricon agreed to deduct $7,500 from the house price and import soil after completion to level the external landscape."

According to the article, Metricon tried to claim the resulting issues as edge heave due to landscaping and 'excessive watering'. Luckily, independent engineers were brought in and concluded that Metricon was at fault for the slab movement. Woohoo to that!

This is a landmark case. The first I've read of anyone winning and being compensated for the WHOLE house. Metricon are still deciding whether to appeal but even if they appeal and win, this will, no doubt, have put ALL builders on notice.


Another person's cracked walls in Brookfield:

Apparently, according to the articles, the consensus is that homes built during the boom in 2007 - 2009 were subject to the most problems as builders took on too much work and tried to rush all their jobs through with inadequate levels of quality control. This together with the end of the big dry spell has resulted in a lot of 'slab heave'.

Here's to hoping we've come a long way since then and we all have happy builds now!!
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