As you can imagine, getting a house or a building to the point where someone can move in is a huge undertaking involving hundreds of people and hundreds of pages of documentation.

So how can they end up leaking and who is responsible ?

We have already covered how they end up leaking but now we can look at who is responsible:

Who?	What did they do?	Most likely to say...
Architect	Drew the plans	"My plans were ok - it's the way the builders and subcontractors built the house"
Department of Building & Housing	Responsible for the Building Act which authorises the use of materials and systems in building	"We've changed the Act now"
Council	They checked through the plans and specifications and gave it the 'all clear'	Not much...
Main Contractor	Project Management of the build	"Talk to someone else"
Builder	Built the house	"I was just following the plans I was given. Besides, the council inspected all my work and signed it off"
Subcontractors	Did the roofing, installed the exterior cladding, heating systems, drainage systems etc	"That business you are talking about closed down. I have a new business now."
Council	Performed inspections throughout the build and gave the final sign off (code of compliance)	Not much...
Product Manufacturers	Promoted various products and cladding systems and their benefits	"That business you are talking about closed down. Besides, the product was ok, it's probably how it was installed"
Home Owner/ Developer	Made inputs into the design and selected the builder and sometimes subcontractors	"I trusted the judgement of others"
Later Tradesman/ Installers	Installed TV aerials; Installed gas hot water supply etc	"If it's a Leaky Home it was like that before I got there"
Ok, that might be a bit 'cut and dry' - let's bring some balance to things.... The Architect: The plans may have been drawn to meet the owner/ developer's budget or wild ideas The Council: They can’t inspect every single detail of a project so it often comes down to the skill of the builder and subcontractors The Builder: The builder is often juggling with the quality and detail of the plans, the owner making changes or trying to cut costs as well as all the other variables on a building site Subcontractors: They are acting on the instruction of the owner, builder or architect. “Do what you are told or we’ll get someone else” Product Manufacturers: They can’t really be responsible for how people install or use their product. People have a choice in what product to use and they could have chosen something else Home Owner/Developer : Did they go for a cheap architect with sketchy plans. Did they take the cheapest quote and go for an unqualified builder ? Later Tradesmen/Installer: Ok, they are probably the least likely to have caused a leaky home problem but they often don’t help