Homeowner had to repair house three times within a year due to developer's negligence

SHAH ALAM - Due to the developer's negligence, a man faced multiple challenges as he had to file repair claims for defects in his new home three times within a year.

Civil servant Muhammad Azim Zaid, 33, said his house was severely damaged and there were pipe leaks in the bathroom which required immediate repair works.

However, he said the developer took the matter lightly and just made a "quick fix" to the damages.

"When I first bought the house, the home inspector I hired informed me of the problems in the bathroom and they then prepared a report to be sent to the developer, but I didn't expect the developer to just put plaster cement to cover the water leak marks.

"The damage worsened two or three days before I moved into the house. During the second repair work, the workers hired by the developer had to break the bottom part of the floor and the bathroom wall and even the toilet bowl was removed.

"I had mixed emotions at that time, I could understand if it happened once as not all houses are perfect. But I started to get a little annoyed whan it happened the second time and could not take it anymore when it happened again for the third time at the same place and I had to fix it," he told Sinar.

Azim said the developer took six to eight months to resolve the matter, even though reports on the defects of the house had been submitted before he moved in.

He said he had to live with a dusty house while waiting for the repair works to be completed.

"The most tiring part is having to clean the house because there were dusts everywhere and I couldn't furnish the house properly.

"What I was most dissatisfied with is that the workers hired by the developer aren't Malaysians and their leader is a foreigner who only understood a little bit of Malay.

"I argued with them intensely until I reached out to the management to send someone who could communicate in our language as they didn't understand me and I don't want to go through the hassle of fixing the floor again, for the same issue," he said.

Azim added that he however did not suffer any losses due to the defects of the house, as it was still under the developer's warranty.

"Actually, there were many other minor damages, like leaks in the kitchen area, but all of them were resolved within a month.

"I don't mind how long the developer takes to fix it because I still have a warranty and I will fight for my rights," he said.