Red tape trebling cost of waterproofing repairs and renos

My partner is on the Body Corporate Executive Committee of a three-storey apartment building in North Sydney with 16 units which is classed as a Class 2 Building under the [Design and Building Practitioners Act (DBPA) and the associated Regulations].

Our building is 20 years old and we are starting to have some waterproofing issues including replacing of membranes on external planter boxes, re waterproofing of doors and minor leaks exposed to the elements after the recent heavy rains. We consider this normal wear and tear on an older building and the Body Corporate is happy to pay the costs of repair.

Our interpretation of the [Regulations] under Clause 13(1)(b) is that waterproofing is caught  unless:

The work is carried out as a result of alterations to a bathroom, kitchen, laundry or toilet: and
The alterations are carried out on an exempt development; and
The work, including the agreement to carry out the work, relates to a single dwelling.

Fair Trading has advised that apartment blocks are not considered a single dwelling and that all three of the above conditions must apply for the work to be excluded from the DBPA .

In previous years we have used an excellent licensed waterproofing contractor to carry out the minor jobs and generally all the individual jobs are less than $5,000. The licensed waterproofing contractor we have used in the past has advised that as we are a Class 2 building, he can no longer do any remedial work on our building without the necessary approvals and certifications under the DBPA. I consider our licences waterproofing contractor to be very ethical and a first call tradesman and understand their concern with not doing the work without DBPA certification.

We have contacted several architects, design practitioners and engineers regarding the certification and lodgement on the Planning portal required so we can repair the membrane on an external planter box and have received quotes in the range of $3,900 to $9,000 for certification of this small job which the licensed waterproofing contractor would charge $3,000 for the actual work. Who bears the warranty cost is another question. When I put the cost issues to Fair Trading they understood the issue but were powerless to act without legislative changes.

Waterproofing remediation and repairs on older buildings is a difficult area and usually requires some removal of bricks and or concrete to determine the problem before it can be fixed. It would be difficult for an engineer or architect to determine the cause of the leak without this exploratory work which is best done by a licences waterproofing contractor.

I fully understand the intention of the DBPA was to catch the dodgy waterproofers on new buildings, however minor waterproofing repairs to existing buildings outside of any warranty seem to have been ignored by the DBPA and are I believe may have not been fully considered when the Government rushed through the DBPA and needs to be reconsidered to make it practical and economic to carry out waterproofing repairs.

I am aware of many other Strata apartment blocks and Body Corporate Managers grappling with the same issues on waterproofing repairs. I would certainly like to bring this waterproofing repair issue into the open for consideration on your forum.

Failure to address the waterproofing issues on older buildings will cause further long-term damage to buildings if the repair work is not done.

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