WA leads the nation with apartment defects

Shocking new research has revealed that WA is the worst State when it comes to critical apartment defects.

The 2025 Australian Apartment Advocacy (AAA) Apartment Survey, which spoke to 1100 nationally, found that 68% of WA apartments faced issues with poor waterproofing within the apartment, external water penetration and structural cracking most common. This has increased from 59% in 2021.  Furthermore, less than a quarter of those experiencing defects (24 per cent) had had all the defects fixed.

“Every apartment buyer has the right to a defect-free home,” AAA director Samantha Reece says. “Developers and builders need to be accountable for quality construction and timely rectification of faults.”

A close second with apartment defects was NSW and Victoria (65 per cent, up from 52% in 2021) and Queensland (52 per cent).

“WA is outpacing the nation when it comes to defects,” Ms Reece says. “NSW and Victoria have taken steps to address the impact of defects with developer bonds and 10-year rectification orders for repairs. In the ACT, if the builder fails, the developer pays the defect repair bill.

“This has been driven by the State Governments recognition that without consumer confidence, apartment projects will simply not get off the ground.

“We now need WA and Queensland to effectively catch up.

“We are talking about WA apartments with no balcony drainage, unwaterproofed basements, glass shattering within 12 months of construction and raw sewage backing up into apartments. This is occurring because there is a lack of oversight and developers and builders are cutting corners.”

Ms Reece says most apartment buyers want home warranty insurance expanded to include buildings four storeys and higher and a ban on developers voting and sitting on owners’ committees.

Other protections apartment buyers wanted mandated by State Governments included disclosure of faults in the apartment complex (76 per cent) and of a developer’s past performance (70 per cent) and for developers to be liable for fixing defects if the builder was no longer trading (66 per cent).