You may be lucky and have only one leak. Or you may be even more fortunate in being given an early sign of more serious problems. The answer: You require an initial visit by a building surveyor likely followed up by a more comprehensive investigation.

If your home is older than six years you should seek Legal advice, as the Statute of Limitations can be a factor. Of greater risk is the long-stop provision in the Building Act that prevents Legal action ten years from the date of the design, approval, inspection or when construction was completed.

We require in our Contract documentation builders to provide a five year Weathertightness Warranty and insist on all other Warranties from suppliers, manufacturers, installers, etc. We provide a Construction Review Producer Statement where we have acted as contract administrators. The repair process is underpinned by the Code Compliance Certificate obtained from the Council at completion of remediation.

Most builders choose not to be involved in remediation of leaky buildings as this work is difficult and high risk. We use a comprehensive list of builders chosen for the suitability of the type of work involved. We promote selected tenderers or contract negotiation with specialist contractors to achieve the best market related price.

If repairs are not exhaustive, it is possible to live in your home. However, it is often cost effective to give the builder full access. It can also be emotionally distressing to live in the ‘whirl wind’ of the repair work.

We would always advise seeking legal support, especially with regard to time issues. Gifted individuals may cope in the litigious environment. However, our experience is that most people cannot cope with the stress of the events around them, let alone coping with the legal process.