Thousands of homeowners may be at risk of having substandard home warranty protection due to a legislative failure by the ACT Government.
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John and Maria Ireland, of Forde, have blamed the bungle, which cut a year off their statutory six-year building warranty protection, for leaving them tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
While territory builders must provide a six-year structural defect warranty on new houses, the mandatory insurance policies that kick in if they die, go broke or disappear only have to run for five.
The anomaly, which dates back at least as far as regulations signed off on by the then planning minister, Andrew Barr, in 2008, is not widely known, even within Access Canberra's building and construction bureaucracy.
ACT Planning and Land Management Minister Mick Gentleman would not explain the thinking behind the anomaly when contacted by Fairfax.
The Irelands found out the hard way after discovering cracks in the load-bearing garage wall of their two-storey home at the start of the year.
When Mr Ireland asked Access Canberra for advice he was told because the builder, Metro Constructions and Developments, had gone broke in 2012, he would have to lodge a claim with the insurer, QBE.
He said he was told QBE would be reluctant to honour the policy and he needed to act quickly as his six-year warranty would expire on February 9, 2016; the sixth anniversary of the certificate of occupancy.
The Irelands were never told that because warranty insurance policies only have to run for five years, not six, their cover may have already expired.
"Everybody told me we were covered for six years," Mr Ireland said. "It also says that on the [Access Canberra] website".
While policies issued by the Canberra Master Builders Association mirror the builders' warranty conditions, QBE's policies only meet the minimum specified in the regulations.
Confident they had a strong case, the Irelands commissioned a building report detailing the problems which estimated the cost of repairs at $20,000. They then paid a firm of solicitors to lodge their claim.
"The southern wall of the garage has very little structural strength because the outside [single brick] skin is sitting on a plastic damp proof layer," John Skurr, the building report author, told Fairfax.
"If they [the Irelands] get the design wind [strength] on the [defective] side wall it will collapse."
Mr Ireland, who said the wall carried the load for the home's second storey, is afraid that if it fails it would send his study and spare bedroom cascading down into the house next door.
"I run a courier company," Mr Ireland said. "I'm not a legal expert. It cost a bit [to have a lawyer lodge the claim] but I felt because of the warning QBE could be difficult it was worth it to do everything by the book."
QBE took just 10 days to reject the Irelands' claim, saying the policy only covered them for five years from the date of the occupancy certificate, not six.
"QBE provides insurance for residential building work for five years, in accordance with the Building (General) Regulations 2008," a company spokeswoman told Fairfax. "At present we have no current plans of altering our offering in the ACT."
Mr Gentleman said Access Canberra "will work with the insurer [QBE] to determine whether there are any concerns with the policies [it has] issued and will explore options to resolve any identified issues".
"Access Canberra is [also] investigating the matters associated with [the Irelands'] insurance policy for building work [and] will work with the insurer to determine whether there are any areas of non-compliance."
