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Serious building defects are widespread in newer, four-storey-and-higher apartment strata schemes in NSW, but the evidence does not show that every Sydney apartment is defective or unsafe. In Building Commission NSW’s 2025 survey, 53% of eligible buildings reported at least one serious defect in common property. That is a warning about a defined class of buildings—not a finding that 53% of Sydney apartments, individual units or all apartment buildings are defective.
The most common problem is waterproofing, not cladding. For owners, the more typical consequences are leaks, fire-safety or other common-property issues, repair costs and insurance pressure—not a dramatic evacuation. The key questions are what the survey actually measured, what has changed since the 2020 reforms, and what a buyer or owners corporation can check before a problem becomes an expensive repair.
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What does the 53% figure actually tell us?
It means that slightly more than half of surveyed strata schemes in a specific newer-building cohort reported one or more serious defects in common property. Building Commission NSW’s 2025 Strata Defects Research Report covered Class 2 residential buildings of at least four storeys, registered as strata schemes from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2024. The survey ran from 18 June to 31 August 2025.
The result was based on 520 completed building surveys out of 1,238 eligible schemes, a 42% response rate. The Commission reports a maximum margin of error of ±3.3% at 95% confidence. This is an NSW survey, not a Sydney-only count, and “building” in the report means a strata scheme—which can comprise one building or several. Managers were asked about serious defects in common property; the figure is not a count of defective apartments or a verdict on each unit.
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It also does not cover every kind of housing. The sample excludes houses, low-rise walk-ups, buildings registered before July 2018 and apartment buildings under four storeys. The 53% should not be turned into “53% of all Sydney apartments.” Sydney remains central to the issue because it holds much of the state’s Class 2 stock and because headline failures such as Opal Tower and Mascot Towers prompted major NSW regulatory changes. But the survey’s geographic scope is statewide.
There is a second figure sometimes confused with the survey: reporting before the November 2025 report said defects had been found in close to 25% of apartment complexes through Commission inspection and enforcement activity. That is a different measure, based on regulator activity, not the same self-reported survey sample. The figures are not competing estimates of an identical population.
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Waterproofing is the leading reported category. In the 2025 survey, 44% of all surveyed buildings had waterproofing defects; fire-safety systems were reported in 28%, building enclosures in 23%, structural elements in 18%, key services in 15%, and non-compliant cladding in 2%. These categories may overlap: one building can have more than one kind of defect.
| Defect category | Share of all surveyed buildings reporting it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Waterproofing | 44% | Leaks and water penetration can affect apartments and shared areas, and may require investigation across several building elements. |
| Fire-safety systems | 28% | Non-compliance in common systems can have consequences beyond one owner’s lot. |
| Building enclosures | 23% | The building envelope is part of the barrier protecting interiors from the weather. |
| Structural elements | 18% | Includes elements such as foundations, floors, walls, roofs, columns and beams. |
| Key services | 15% | Shared building services are another recurring defect category. |
| Non-compliant cladding | 2% | Uncommon in this survey cohort, but still present in some buildings. |
Source: Building Commission NSW, 2025 Strata Defects Report; percentages are of all surveyed buildings, not mutually exclusive shares. See the Commission’s survey infographic.
Waterproofing failures are often failures of detail and coordination rather than one mysterious fault. The Commission’s Building Defects Library lists examples such as poor falls that leave water ponding on balconies or roofs, membrane terminations that do not connect correctly with drains, inadequate sliding-door thresholds, and missing or incorrectly installed waterstops at wet-area doorways. Inadequate surface preparation, damage to a membrane by a later trade, or covering work before it has been inspected can also contribute.
A drawing that simply calls for a “waterproof membrane” without resolving drains, thresholds and junctions leaves important construction details open. A membrane can be the right product and still fail if the substrate, falls, junctions or trade sequencing are wrong. The National Construction Code 2022 Volume One references AS 4654.1 and AS 4654.2 for balcony and roof membranes. A stain or damaged paint finish can be a reason to investigate moisture, but repainting or sealing the visible surface does not establish or correct the underlying cause.
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Structural issues are less common than waterproofing but can have more serious consequences. The Commission’s library identifies recurring concerns including insufficient cover to reinforcing steel, damaged reinforcement, poor concrete placement and movement joints that cannot move as designed. Structural defects appeared in 18% of surveyed buildings, up from 15% in 2023; for the 2018-registered group, the reported share rose from 17% to 31% between surveys. These are survey findings, not evidence that a particular building is structurally unsafe. Building-specific assessment is needed to establish cause, severity and remedy.
Cladding is not the dominant issue in this cohort. The survey found non-compliant cladding in 2% of buildings overall, with none detected among buildings registered in 2020–2024 and 6% among 2018-registered buildings. Project Remediate, the NSW program for combustible cladding on eligible Class 2 buildings, concluded in mid-2024. Those results do not clear older buildings outside the survey window; Harbour Mill in Pyrmont, completed in 2015, illustrates that cladding and water-ingress problems can coexist in older stock.
Are newer Sydney apartments getting better?
The 2025 survey found lower reported defect rates among newer registrations, but the Commission says it cannot yet separate improved construction from regulatory effects or the simple fact that defects take time to emerge and be detected.
Serious defects were reported in 69% of buildings registered in 2018, compared with 21% of those registered in 2024. Waterproofing defects were reported in 66% of the 2018 group and 7% of the 2024 group. The Commission cautions that these differences may reflect construction quality, the effect of reforms, or detection lag—or a combination. A newer building has had less time for some defects to become apparent. Indeed, waterproofing defects in 2018-registered buildings increased from 46% in the 2023 survey to 66% in 2025 as more issues were identified over time.
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The broad cohort comparison also points in the same direction: among buildings registered in 2018–2021, waterproofing was reported in 52%, fire-safety issues in 32%, enclosures in 26%, structural defects in 21%, key services in 15% and cladding in 2%. For the 2022–2024 cohort, the corresponding figures were 22%, 16%, 15%, 10%, 14% and 0%. These are reported defects by registration cohort; they do not prove that a 2024 building is defect-free or that the reforms alone caused the difference.
NSW’s 2020 Design and Building Practitioners Act and Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Act came after the failures that brought apartment construction quality into sharper focus. Building Commission NSW was established on 1 December 2023. The 2025 report shows signs of stronger awareness and confidence among strata managers: 84% said reforms had improved defect management, up from 76% in 2023, and 52% said reforms had increased consumer confidence, up from 48%. Those views coexist with a serious-defect rate that remained consistent with the 2023 survey.
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Why are Opal Tower and Mascot Towers not typical outcomes?
Opal Tower and Mascot Towers show two very different paths after serious problems emerge: one building was repaired with a solvent party still involved; the other remained unoccupied after its owners’ recovery options narrowed. Neither case is a useful stand-in for every apartment defect.
Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park was evacuated on Christmas Eve 2018 after cracking appeared on level 10. A NSW government investigation found issues including under-designed hob beams, partly grouted joints and concrete on level 4 that was weaker than specified, while concluding that the building overall was structurally sound and repairable. Icon and its parent Kajima spent more than $50 million on repairs; the building’s approximately 500 defects were addressed over a long process, with the last minor items completed in 2025. It was declared defect-free on 10 October 2026 and has a 20-year structural warranty dating from 2019, rather than relying only on the statutory six-year major-defect period. The Urban Developer’s account of the repair’s completion describes the close of the saga.
Mascot Towers, completed in 2008, was evacuated in June 2019 after rapid cracking in the car park. The precise technical cause remains unproven in the public record; neighbouring construction was alleged as a trigger, but cracks had been recorded earlier and a March 2023 NSW report on the former Botany Bay Council process did not determine the technical cause. Its original builder entity was liquidated, the building remained unoccupied into 2026, and repair was described as not viable. In May 2024, a majority of owners agreed to a state-supported sale. The government’s estimated emergency-relief spending was $24.5 million, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Mascot is outside the 2018–2024 survey cohort; its importance is as a caution about age, expiring warranty periods and the difficulty of recovery when responsible companies no longer exist.
Most buildings with defects are not evacuated. The more representative owner experience is persistent water ingress, non-compliant shared systems, lengthy disputes, insurance impacts and special levies. The Commission found insurance had been affected in 74% of buildings with serious defects, with higher premiums in 60%; other work was crowded out in 62%, and managers reported mental or other health effects in 47%.
Who pays to fix a strata defect?
Responsibility may begin with a builder or developer, but owners can still face disruption and costs while responsibility is disputed or a company cannot pay. In NSW, the Home Building Act 1989 provides a six-year statutory warranty period for major defects and two years for other defects, counted from completion. Whether a particular defect is major is a legal and fact-specific question; a leaking shower is not automatically a major defect. A waterproofing problem can qualify as major, but a leak that does not make the building unusable for its intended purpose may be treated as non-major.
The Design and Building Practitioners Act also creates a statutory duty of care for people carrying out construction work, owed to owners and subsequent owners in relevant circumstances. It is not a substitute for getting advice about a particular building, contract or claim. The critical practical issue is often not just whether a warranty or duty exists, but whether the developer or builder remains solvent, whether evidence has been preserved, and whether the owners corporation can agree on scope and funding.
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The 2025 survey shows how slow resolution can be. Among buildings with serious defects, 14% had all serious defects rectified, 33% had some work completed, 9% had started work but completed none, 11% had an agreement but work had not started, and 33% had no agreement. Developers had yet to agree in 80% of no-agreement cases; builders were uncommitted in 71%. The most common reported obstacle was builders or developers being slow to carry out work (40%).
Among fully resolved cases, 53% were resolved through negotiation with the builder or developer, down from 71% in 2023. Litigation accounted for 13% of fully resolved cases and 37% of cases with no agreement. Rectification costs were known in only some cases: those buildings had spent more than $45 million in total, averaging $215,400 per building to date. The 2025 report gives a 2023 comparison average of $283,000 per building. These figures are not estimates of the final cost for every affected scheme.
Project Intervene is a NSW program using RAB Act powers to compel developers or builders to address serious defects. The 2025 survey said the program was closed to new registrations; 18% of buildings with serious defects had used or were using it. The report also records increased use of regulatory pathways: 19% of defect buildings reported remedial work under the DBP Act, up from 11% in 2023, and 11% under the RAB Act, up from 4%.
Project Remediate was different: it supported replacement of combustible cladding on eligible Class 2 buildings and concluded in mid-2024. It should not be confused with Project Intervene or treated as an open route for every cladding or building defect. The Commission’s survey found only eight surveyed buildings with non-compliant cladding.
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Look beyond the apartment’s finishes. A polished unit inspection cannot tell you whether a shared balcony membrane, basement, façade, fire system or structural element has a defect, and common-property problems are generally an owners-corporation concern rather than a private DIY repair.
- Read strata records before making a decision. Review meeting minutes, defect reports, special-levy history, insurance valuations and records of past or proposed remedial work. Look for repeated discussion of water penetration, fire safety, façade or structural issues, not only the latest summary.
- Check regulator history. Ask whether the building has been subject to a Building Commission order, prohibition order or other relevant enforcement action, and obtain the underlying documents. An order or report should be read for the affected work, required actions and dates rather than treated as a generic label.
- Establish the building’s timeline and who remains responsible. Confirm completion and occupation-certificate history, whether the building is still within the six-year major-defect warranty period, and whether the builder and developer still exist. The warranty clock runs from completion, not simply the date you buy a unit.
- Ask about the four leading risk areas. Waterproofing, fire safety, enclosures and structure are the most useful starting points because they correspond to frequent survey categories. Ask whether reports identify a cause, a repair scope, completed verification and unresolved work—not just a list of visible symptoms.
- Arrange an independent review where records raise concerns. A common-property inspection and specialist investigation may be more informative than a finishes-focused walk-through. For a leak, a sound sequence is investigation, diagnosis, defined repair scope, remedial work and verification. A patch or repaint before the source is understood can conceal symptoms without resolving the defect.
For owners corporations, record defects promptly, preserve reports and photographs, and seek appropriately qualified advice before authorising remedial work. Waterproofing is a regulated building element under the DBP Act, and NSW contractor licensing applies to residential waterproofing work over $5,000. Work on common property is not a job for an individual owner to tackle with a surface coating or sealant.
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What is the practical verdict for Sydney apartment buyers?
The best-supported answer is neither “Sydney apartments are all riddled” nor “the crisis is over.” Serious defects remain common in the surveyed class of newer, taller strata buildings, with waterproofing the most frequently reported category. Yet the survey does not establish that an individual building has a serious defect, and the lower reported rates in newer registrations remain uncertain because defects can take years to emerge.
Regulation and enforcement have changed since the 2018–2019 tower failures. Building Commission NSW reported 1,015 development-site inspections and 405 rectification orders in 2024–25, and reporting of serious defects to the regulator rose to 36% of affected buildings in the 2025 survey, from 15% in 2021. More reporting can reflect greater awareness or detection as well as the underlying problem. For a buyer or owners corporation, the decisive evidence remains building-specific: records, independent assessment, the condition of common property, and whether a viable party can deliver and pay for a proper repair.
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Was the 53% result based on engineers inspecting every apartment?
No. The survey was completed by strata managers and, for the first time, a small number of self-managed schemes; it asked about serious defects in common property. The 2025 exercise also included eight follow-up interviews, but it was not a unit-by-unit engineering audit.
Does a serious common-property defect automatically make an apartment unsafe to live in?
No. The survey records reported defects, not a universal safety rating for each building or apartment. The type, location and severity of a defect—and any regulator direction—determine what action is needed.
Can I claim against a builder after the six-year period in NSW?
The six-year statutory warranty period applies to major defects under the Home Building Act, while other defects have a two-year period. Other rights or the application of a duty of care can depend on the facts, dates and parties involved, so a specific claim needs legal advice rather than an assumption based on the warranty period alone.
Does a defect report mean I should avoid buying the apartment?
Not by itself. A report may describe a resolved issue, ongoing work, or a serious unresolved risk; buyers need to understand the scope, current status, funding and responsible parties. Ask for the full reports and strata records, not just a short summary or verbal assurance.
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