Apparently, this is one of the dodgier parts of owning a condo. The condo we used to own had a structural problem - nothing major, but one that needed to be repaired in the next several years, or else it would get worse.

Getting the builder to pay up was very, very hard. Multiple shell corporations, numerous lawsuits, debates on whether this was construction defect, or an insurance claim. The way condo association finally won was by hiring a rather expensive law firm. It took several years, and in the end, a big chunk of the judgement went to the law firm.

And this was for a rather large condo building with 170 units. We were lucky we won, or else all the owners would have had to pay a one-time assessment.

My real estate agent at the time warned me to be careful about buying condos that are less than 5 years old, as that’s the typical time frame when various surprises come out. I am taking that advice to heart.

Theoretically the system is set up to do this but in practice its complex and takes time.

Insurers and lawyers can have a field day over liability. Was it the builders fault? The structural engineer? The architect? Or caused after construction? All of these will have their own insurance and all will avoid paying unless its clear to a court that its their liability.

Of course major issues like this dont happen so often so theres little to reference. But for example there was a recent case where the owners corporration insurance refused to pay for a roof flying off after a storm because in their view poor construction was to blame. Its a lot of time for residents to be without a home while these things are sorted

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/insurer-rejects-stormdam...

> It's a lot of time for residents to be without a home while these things are sorted.

Though if you're renting, you can break your lease without fees and get your bond back if the building is no longer classified as being safe to live in (at least that's the NSW rental laws).

But of course if you're renting then home insurance isn't your problem (usually you'd just have contents insurance).

In Sydney it's also common for builders/management companies/etc to declare bankruptcy to deflect lawsuits etc, then set up a new company to continue business.

They also don't have to finish everything in the building. Moved into a building where the construction company did this, many things were unfinished. Apparently didn't completely pay the workers, so they just took stuff when they left.

Not if the insurance companies can help it.