“Being a first time builder I didn't know much, but when my slab went down I wrote to the company and asked if [anything more was to] happen, as it didn't look right,” she said. “You could tell it dipped all over the place and looked uneven.” Soon after it was laid, two large, deep cracks began developing in what was to be her living and dining room area. “At first the cracks weren't very big, and everything the company gives you regarding the slabs tells you cracking is normal,” she said. In further conversations with the site supervisor, Ms Camilleri said she was consistently reassured the cracks were due to shrinkage, which typically appears when the concrete used in the slab contains too much water.

And while cracking slabs are unsightly, they don't normally affect structural stability. But over time, Ms Camilleri said it appeared the cracks were getting bigger. “On my final inspection, I asked [the inspector] again: ‘Are you sure they are normal?’,” she said. “I felt they looked worse than ever. The cracks began to show in 2017. Credit:Deborah Camilleri

“[But] he told me they looked worse because a cleaner had been, and the cracks [had been] vacuumed out, so they just appeared worse.” Ms Camilleri continued to work with Dale Alcock and while she remained concerned, she pushed ahead with her building plans and engaged a flooring company. But a young man who turned up to offer a quote for the flooring soon stopped her in her tracks. “The flooring company was worried about the floor because of the cracks, but also because the levels over the slab seemed to be inconsistent,” she said. “He was also concerned that over a section of the crack there seemed to be a hollow spot which he felt wasn't normal.”

Ms Camilleri was told she would need some sort of warranty from Dale Alcock promising not to hold the flooring company liable if the floor began to move or separate from the slab. Ms Camilleri measuring parts of the slab. Credit:Deborah Camilleri She was unable to proceed, and it was at this point she called in experts to assess how much the “shrinkage cracks” would affect her ability to continue building her dream home. In September last year, two independent engineers worked took core samples from the slab to assess them. Both found six out of the 14 core samples did not meet Australian standards, and at some points the slab’s thickness varied anywhere between 57mm and 85mm.

Ms Camilleri contacted Dale Alcock Homes again with their findings, and they offered her four rectifications: they could inject a cement grout under all internal load-bearing walls, core out the cracks and fill them a poly filler, or treat the slab with exypex or another self-levelling product. And if these rectifications didn’t meet Ms Camilleri’s standards, Dale Alcock offered to purchase the property off her. “I did consider this but it leaves me at a huge financial loss,” she said. "For the past seven months I have been out of pocket [approximately] $10,000 in lawyer fees, engineer reports, rates and utility on two properties. “My biggest struggle ... has been sourcing people out that can help and I can trust, knowing what to listen to and making sure that I looked at the facts.

“It is frustrating that the engineers report proves that my slab is not ... Australian standards. “I was told by the company that they build a lot of houses and mistakes happen.” In response to Ms Camilliri’s experience, ABN Group managing director Dale Alcock said the company was keen to make things right with her. The difference in thickness. Credit:Deborah Camilleri “I’m very sorry to Deb Camilleri,” he said.

“The floor slab has not been completed to my standards and expectations. I have personally been involved in meetings with Deb to find a solution – this solution is a fully engineered outcome that both our engineer and Deb’s engineers have agreed will address the issue.” And while Ms Camilleri said her experience had been both financially and emotionally draining, she was most concerned about how it had been allowed to happen in the first place. New Home Building Brokers managing director Tristan Kirkham said Ms Camilleri’s story was a good example of how WA consumers need better protection when building. “This is an example of how sometimes in building quality control can go wrong,” he said. “For Ms Camilleri this unfortunately is an emotionally devastating and expensive, drawn-out process.

“The industry bodies are largely a builder’s membership, run by builders, so we don’t see anything changing for the consumers on that side. The building commission needs more resources. “Getting out on-site and checking builders more often in more detail at major milestone stages, like the slab pour on Ms Camilleri’s home, could have identified and rectified the problem long before it reached this point. “More protection for the consumer and a simplified disputes process would also speed up the resolution process. Independent home broker Tristan Kirkham. Credit:Deborah Camilleri “It’s a complex industry and the consumer doesn’t know what they don’t know.”