Blueman – as the fencer would have worked everything out on a per metre rate for each length / variation of height etc, I don’t accept that it would have been a big job to quote individual owners; they do that all the time!
Further, the total costs of the job could have been paid by the Strata Manager, and the individual components recovered by showing the cost as a separate line item on Owners’ next Levy Contributions Invoice.
All that’s immaterial now, but I would, if only for future reference, check the Strata Title Plan just to see if yours is for some reason atypical, in that dividing fences between Lots are shown as thick black lines and therefore denote that they’re Common Property.
So what to do about what you call “defects”?
I don’t think that issues such as minor discrepancies in the alignment of the new fence relative to the original, different post positions, and stepped panels are “defects”, in fact I think they’re all about the fact that there was no detailed specification or scope-of-work provided.
Sure, an experienced fencer should have known better, so after perhaps checking their Licence details with the Department of Fair Trading (in NSW), and if there’s noting untoward there, then I come back to the point of your E/C arranging with its Strata Manager to have the fencer quote to have the fence meet expectations, and then try to negotiate around that.