Building watchdog blames manufacturer for leaky plumbing in Perth homes
A comprehensive investigation into the mass failure of plumbing pipes used in hundreds of new homes in Perth has laid the blame on a manufacturing fault, potentially absolving building companies of liability for the flooding issues.
On Wednesday WA’s building and plumbing watchdog announced the results of further tests into the cause of the water leaks from a particular brand of polybutylene pipe, known as Profit, made by Iplex Australia.
The bathroom of one homeowner impacted by the faulty piping.
Most water leaks occurred in pipes manufactured between mid-2017 and mid-2022.
Building and Energy carried out inspections at more than 50 properties where pipe failures occurred and found that installation work practices and workmanship were not the cause of the pipe failures.
The watchdog also engaged independent materials experts to conduct laboratory testing of the samples retrieved.
“Understandably, these incidents have caused stress and inconvenience for many homeowners,” said Building and Energy executive director Saj Abdoolakhan.
“Our investigation has been comprehensive and involved detailed laboratory work to determine if the cause was a product manufacturing issue, substandard workmanship during installation or a combination of both.
“As the plumbing regulator, we have formed the view that installation work practices were not the causes of these failures.”
Abdoolakhan said homeowners with concerns about Profit pipes should continue to liaise with their builder until there are further updates.
The findings have been referred to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
WAtoday reported in October 2022 that dozens of Perth homeowners were being forced to have their plumbing ripped out and re-done around two years after moving in due to pipes bursting and causing flooding and mould.
In April, this masthead reported that hundreds of homeowners were considering a class action against builder BGC, one of two companies in WA that extensively used Iplex piping in their builds between mid-2017 and mid-2022.
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