Cracking up with a blame game
04/06/2008 NST By Azira Shaharuddin

SHAH ALAM: A home should be a haven but for residents in Impian 2 and 3 of Bandar Setia Alam, fears are growing that their new homes might instead pose a serious threat to their safety.

Cases of widening of pre-existing hairline cracks and falling debris are provoking their fears.

Concern has turned into alarm, as some residents fear that their dwellings may be structurally unsound. Furthermore, residents complain that water is seeping through the cracks during rainstorms and flooding their homes.

Residents said they noticed hairline cracks a few months after moving in but dismissed them as inconsequential. But the cracks started to widen and multiply at an alarming rate.

Streets visited the area recently to survey the damage and noted that they all had one thing in common -- the homes were either undergoing extension or renovation work, or were next to such homes.

The most pronounced cracks appear between the original house structure and the extension. Some cracks are so large, a fist could go through them.

U13 residents' association committee member Jimmy Tan said cracks first appeared in his kitchen and bathroom walls soon after he moved in two years ago.

Last month, a bathroom wall tile broke loose and fell on his mother's head while she was doing the laundry.

"Luckily, she was unharmed. But what if, next time, something heavier falls on her?

Tan complained to the developer, SP Setia Bhd, which attributed the cracks to renovations by his neighbour.

"But how can the cracks be so wide?" he asked.

Complaints made by Tan and other residents last month led the developer to offer them a trade-in programme, whereby the damaged houses would be repurchased by the developer at market prices on the condition that affected homeowners buy a new home from the developer.

Those who accepted the deal may remain in their house but pay a RM500 monthly rent until the completion of their new house in 2010. They also had to pay a RM2,500 deposit.

"I had to accept the offer, even though I had to spend another RM100,000 for the new house," Tan said.

Susan Lim, 30, meanwhile, had to have a pillar on the front porch re-strengthened by the developer, as it had begun to buckle.

"I ignored the cracks at first, but when my friend informed me that the cracks were because of structural damage, I reported the matter to the developer."

She had to spend RM10,000 to repair cracks in her newly renovated living room.

Residents' association chairman Ng Seng Yong said the developer offered the same excuse of "improper renovation works", each time it is asked to repair cracks.

But he is not convinced.

"Isn't it odd that all the houses are facing the same problem?"

According to Ng, as the homes are still under warranty, the developer is obliged to make repairs in homes affected. But its efforts appear to be too little, too late.

"The workers plaster the cracks. But they would reappear after a few months."

Ng believes the real reason for the damage is the housing area's weak foundation.

Ng revealed that residents have explored different avenues to resolve the issue, to no avail.

The matter was also raised with the Selangor Housing and Property Board and Shah Alam City Council last year, which prompted both parties to conduct inspections of the area.

This was followed by a meeting in December between the developer and residents, during which SP Setia Bhd was directed to conduct soil testing and submit a report on its findings within three months.

The report was out two weeks ago.

On Sunday, Kota Anggerik assemblyman Yaakob Sapari visited the area and said he would meet with the developer after collecting all complaints from the residents.

He said the developer had failed to conduct proper soil structure analysis and wanted the issue to be settled before the homeowners' warranty period ends in about a year.

SP Setia Bhd spokesperson Michelle Liew Sim Kien said that the developer had never shied away from the responsibility of repairing construction defects during the warranty period.

Liew also pointed out that cracks in Tan's house, for instance, were due to renovation work done by his neighbour.

She added that checks by consultants on his home found that the double-storey extension to the back of his house added stress to the whole block.

"A developer cannot be held accountable for defects not attributed to its actions and will not accept responsibility for damage caused by renovation work," she said.

She added that the cracks in Tan's front porch and back yard areas will soon be rectified.

Liew added that owners were free to carry out renovation works provided that proper foundation piling was done.