Digital construction is transforming how the industry manages the Defects Liability Period

The construction industry has a big problem with small defects. Post-construction (PC) Defects are generally viewed as a painful part of the construction process. These are the many small – even cosmetic – defects ranging from paint abnormalities to a faulty tap washer.

New legislative changes over the last few years has given the consumer added layers of protection on top of the two-year Defect Liability Period (DLP). This will likely trigger more defect reporting by owners than ever before.

However, some builders are seeing this as an opportunity. One that can help secure better client relationships and establish a superior reputation and sales by end users or buyers.

Why are minor defects such a problem for the building industry?
Put into context of the recent high-profile cases in the media concerning major building defects, it is easy to ignore the defects that get reported post-construction. However, these types of defects are emerging as a significant threat to the profitability and reputation of builders and developers alike.

This is because post-construction is when owners move in and cast a critical eye. That’s when a myriad of smaller, higher volume defects emerge, and can snowball. And this is causing a whole new set of problems for builders and developers.

The DLP enables owners a guaranteed period of approximately two years after construction is completed, to report and have repaired any reasonable small or non-major defects. Naturally, owners will be very proactive during this window, to work with the builder to have any issues rectified.

For the builder, this process involves time and money (including opportunity cost). If not handled effectively, it can damage a builder or developer’s reputation. Comparatively speaking, 85% of new buildings in Australia have major defects – an average of 14 per building, according to a Deakin University Study (July 19).

While there is little data on the cost and volume of small defects, according to small defects resolution expert DLP Manager, post-construction defects sit around 150 minor defects per month per building. And according to the same data, each and every small defect requires at least six stakeholder touch points and eight steps – making it one of the most stakeholder intensive areas of construction, and a complex, ongoing task to manage.

DLP Manager and Probuild: Improving cost-efficiency

Probuild is an example of one builder that is taking this area seriously, for a number of reasons. Firstly, their corporate goal is to drastically reduce purchaser defects. Secondly, Probuild have discovered that managing and reducing defects through DLP Manager is proving cost-effective, and making them more efficient and able to move on to the next project.

Defects are a fact of life. Founder of DLP Manager, Chris Polin says, “in 15 years as a project manager in the construction industry, I was surprised at how inefficiently the volume of this work was being handled. Administrative staff were armed with nothing but spreadsheets – to manage an enormous number of stakeholders and processes that were simply out of their control.”

DLP Manager was designed to specifically tackle this part of the construction process. As an end-to-end complete solution – DLP has created built-in accountability at every step, eliminating the need for spreadsheets. And an expert team of defects managers ensure defects get closed – based on a unique ‘traffic light system’, so that builders can get on with their next project.

As DLP Manager grows, the goal is to help builders and developers gain trust and confidence of property buyers once again – one small detail at a time. Small defects are a fact of life in construction. But with DLP Manager, builders can now get them under control, enabling them to move their best talent on to the next project – all the while, keeping end-user customers satisfied.

With DLP Manager, there is now a managed platform solution for small post-construction defects that is a win:win for quality, cost-efficiency and growth.

DLP Manager. We build reputations.