SUBSTANDARD guttering threatens to cause water damage to thousands of new houses and create a legal and insurance minefield.
A whistle-blowing plumber and his builder brother have spent months vainly trying to bring the problem to the attention of authorities.Plumber Jason Higgins and his brother Ian warn that much of the guttering made in NSW over the past decade does not meet Australian Standards and that untold invisible damage may be occurring within the walls of recently built houses.The problem emerged during last June's Newcastle storms, which led to 98,000 insurance claims reaching $1.5 billion. The storms meant plenty of work for Jason Higgins but he noticed a puzzling pattern. The guttering on affected houses appeared to be in good condition and was not blocked. But in heavy rain, it was pushing excess water back into the roof. He concluded that much of the guttering he and possibly every other plumber had been installing over the past 10 years was flawed. A search of plumbing compliance documents confirmed his suspicions. The high-front gutters introduced in the early 1990s, favoured by architects for their aesthetic appeal and embraced by builders because of the spring clip system which quickly attaches it to the metal facia, fail to meet Australian Standards and, possibly, the Building Code of Australia. The design has become the most popular guttering system in the state. Come heavy rain, the high front sitting flush with the metal facia means the overflow has nowhere to go other than back into the roof, Mr Higgins said. Only a small fraction of the damage is visible, particularly in newer brick veneer houses. As the water pools in the cavity between the brick exterior and the soft timber frame of the house, the cycle of wetting and drying encourages dry rot, methodically destroying the timber structure. Insurance companies would not repair the houses if the original work was non-compliant. Ric Bonaldi, a specialist in building facades and cladding who conducts classes for the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, confirmed the Higgins's claims.
"Nobody is complying with [the standard] and nobody is policing it ... it's like a busy highway without any traffic police," said Mr Bonaldi, who dealt with the issue in his book "Detailing for water: why do buildings leak?" BlueScope Steel and Stratco, two of the largest guttering manufacturers in the country, insisted yesterday that their products met building code requirements, and disputed the claim that their products failed to meet Australian Standards. Both companies said the addition of slots in the front of their guttering provided adequate overflow in most weather but, according to the companies' websites, this feature was optional. BlueScope Steel and Stratco both said they were unaware of any complaints about the efficacy of their guttering systems. But when the Herald suggested to Stratco national marketing manager Kevin Mann that some of the company's guttering might fall short of meeting Australian Standards, he said it was possible "up to a point". "You're only talking about extreme circumstances, not normal rainfall," he said. "If people just maintain their gutter and keep it clean, it generally works fine." SMH
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