Facade interfaces: where multi-residential defects actually originate
Most post-handover water ingress claims trace back to a junction that was never detailed, sampled or tested. The controls are inexpensive; the rectification is not.
Water ingress is the largest single category of post-handover defect in attached residential construction, and the majority of it originates at a small number of predictable junctions.
Detailing those junctions in shop drawings, approving a physical prototype, and water testing before lining are the three controls that prevent the rectification cost.
Worked example — a triple-storey boutique apartment building over a basement, the form of the Richmond project in our portfolio, carries most of its water risk at four junctions: the basement-to-ground slab, the balcony threshold on each level, the window head and sill in the lightweight wall, and the parapet-to-roof transition.
Each of those gets a shop drawing, a physical sample and a water test before any lining goes on. The cost of that is measured in days. The cost of finding the same junction after handover is measured in scaffold, access agreements with owners, and a rectification programme around people living in the building.
On a 100+ dwelling site such as Box Hill South the same four junctions repeat across every building, which is what makes approving one prototype worth more than detailing each one separately.
Completed projects beyond those published here can be provided on request, with dwelling numbers, contract values and referees. Ask for the full list.
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