‘Time-bomb of leaks’: WA homeowners irate at Iplex leaky pipes mess (2024)

Homeowners in leaking houses say they’re living in ticking time bombs, labelling a multi-million government deal with builders and Iplex Australia to fix burst pipes a “failure”.

Iplex is expected to spend $155 million replacing leaking Pro-fit Typlex 1050 pipes, with the government chipping in $30 million as part of the agreement.

However, about 65 per cent of the 12,000 impacted homes have been built by BGC Housing Group – which is not part of the deal.

In a statement, BGC called the joint industry agreement a “temporary band-aid”, adding further that the construction giant had been “precluded” due to its own litigation against Iplex.

“To date, BGC has spent more than $18 million of its own funds rectifying bursts in customers’ homes from Iplex pipes and performing preventative ceiling re-pipe works, in a staged remediation process similar to that announced today,” it said.

“BGC notes that the Government of Western Australia announcement with Fletcher Building regarding the Iplex pipes matter is an in-principle agreement, not an enforceable agreement, so there is no deal to sign at this point.”

BGC clients Joanna and Micheal Scriven say six leaking pipes over the past two years had meant their Port Coogee home being ripped apart and put back together again several times over.

The home’s downstairs flooring has been replaced twice with plaster stripped from walls and gaping holes left in the ceiling where pipes have been accessed.

“We’re still sitting on this time-bomb of leaks,” Joanna said.

“You can’t live in a home like that.

“What we were hoping for today was the recall. It doesn’t sound like a recall and I don’t see how we can rest until we have this pipe out of our house.”

Sasha Hacking told WAtoday on Friday afternoon she was living in fear after a leak flooded her entire home, forcing the family to live on concrete while waiting for it to dry out and new floor to be laid.

“The government failing to issue a product recall is beyond heartbreaking,” she said. “We’ve had unpaid time off work, we’ve had sleepless nights and anxiety, allergies from mould and concrete dust and many out-of-pocket expenses.

“I’m paranoid now and live in fear of damage to irreplaceable items and have packed my life into fire and waterproof containers instead of displaying items I love around my home.”

She also commended BGC for their handling of the issue, commencing repairs and replacing pipes in full.

Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said on Friday the agreement would see the issue resolved at no cost to homeowners.

“We believe that this industry response is the best possible outcome for customers,” she said.

“Importantly, the industry response is uncapped in cost and time, which means that all eligible homeowners will be able to access a remedy regardless of when their home was built or when the leaks occur.”

Thousands of West Australians are part of a federal class action against Iplex over the matter.

BGC is also pursuing litigation.

In a statement, Iplex said it intended to defend the lawsuits.

“Despite reaching an in-principle agreement on the Joint Industry Response, legal and financial risks remain for Iplex AU and Fletcher Building.,” it said.

“If a current or future matter was successfully brought against Iplex AU, it may have a material adverse impact to the group.”

The statement also said the joint agreement “recognises that a product recall is not an appropriate response to the plumbing failures”.

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Ellery’s Friday announcement also included legislative changes to extend the current six-year defect complaint period to 15 years, specifically for impacted homes with Pro Fit typelex 1050 pipes installed between 2017 And 2022.

About 4000 of the 12,000 homes have been built by agreement-participating builders Delstrat Group, Aveling Homes, Wow Homes, Summit Homes, Status Homes, New Choice Homes and Shelford Homes.

Housing Institute of Australia executive director Michael McGowan said the mediation process had been “complex and challenging”.

“I want to assure everyone that this is not in every house, in every home in Western Australia, and it’s not a problem that we see within the industry very often,” he said.

“We’re under no illusions that there’s a lot of volume of work happening in the industry at the moment – however, the certainty that’s created by the industry response allows for a boost in apprentices, a boost in companies coming into Western Australia to help with these very specific solutions to fixing kitchens, bathrooms and pipes.”

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