Victims of ‘abysmal building practices’ awarded €1.09m

Three families were "victims of abysmal building practices" and "massive systemic breaches" of building regulations, a High Court judge found today when he awarded them a total of €1.09 million.

Mr Justice Gerard Hogan noted the defects included a leak caused by incorrect fittings on pipes which happened on one woman's wedding day in 2009 while the ceiling in the playroom in another house collapsed twice.

The judge is sending his judgment to Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan and the chairman of the Oireachtas environment committee for the Government to give "such consideration to the policy issues raised by the judgment as they may consider appropriate".

What happened to these families was “simply unconscionable”, the judge said, and he expressed the hope their “appalling” plight may prove “a clarion call for action in relation to the proper enforcement of building standards”.

The case concerned houses in the "Ocean Links" estate at Strandhill,  Sligo, built in the early 2000s by Mulvey Developments in an area of "stunning scenery" with many houses looking over Sligo bay or the Ox Mountains.

Among the purchasers were Michael Mitchell and his wife Margo, Ciaran Adams and his wife Niamh Deasy, and Mary Brett.

Ms Brett initially used the house during holidays before living permanently in it from 2009 when she married.

They sued the Mulvey firm and Thomas Mulvey over multiple serious defects. The defendants did not defend the case and judgement was entered against them previously.

The plaintiffs also sued the supervising engineer during building, Stephen Garvey of Adept Consulting Engineers, and Design Development Ltd, since gone into liquidation.  Judgement was also entered previously against those defendants in default of their putting in a defence.

The plaintiffs also sued the National House Building Guarantee Company Ltd which operates the "Homebond" repair scheme and that case, plus six similar claims by other householders, are pending.

Mr Justice Hogan was yesterday dealing with assessment of damages in relation to the first three cases.

Awarding €424,090, including €202,000 for repairs, to the Mitchells, he said they experienced a multitude of defects including, within a month of moving into their new home in 2005, water stains on the playroom ceiling. Repairs were not carried out immediately and “worse” happened when in September the children cried out it was raining in the playroom.

Water was streaming down the ceiling which later collapsed and the house had to be evacuated, he noted.  Repairs were carried out by the builders but problems continued and the playroom ceiling collapsed again in November.

An investigation by the Mitchells’ own engineer revealed numerous defects including lack of a damp course in certain areas, inadequate or defective flashing on tiling and a lack of insulation in part of a cavity wall, pipes and the water tank.  Their engineer said responsibility for this “legacy of disasters” rested with the builders and supervising engineers and it appeared the lowest possible standard of work had been done.

This “catalogue of miseries” gravely impacted on the Mitchells whose master bedroom was so cold Ms Mitchell was forced to don a ski cap to keep warm before eventually moving out of that room, the judge said.

He awarded €250,175 to Ms Brett, including €125,000 for future and past repairs.  She moved into her new home in 2004 and early efforts to raise issues over the defects were summarily rebuffed by the builders, the judge said.

Cracking appeared in an outside front wall and later inside the house. The floor in the sitting room began to slope and plaster began to fall off walls on a regular basis.  More recently, Ms Brett began to notice the kitchen tiles sounded hollow underfoot and she feared parts of the floor may give way.

Ms Brett’s engineer found the house was built on loose sandy type material which had caused subsidence and cracking and also found “wholesale violations” of building regulations.

The judge awarded €424,805 to Ciaran Adams and Niamh Deasy, including €165,000 for repairs to their four bedroom detached home which they paid €352,000 for in 2003. The house was cold and very difficult to heat and cracks began to open in the kitchen and a bedroom above it.