Architect-led waterproofing remediation for NSW strata buildings

The problem strata committees keep hitting

Most apartment leaks are patched by the same contractor who quotes for the work. The render gets resealed, the grout gets redone, and within a year the water is back, often in a different unit. You do not need another quote. You need someone whose only job is to find the cause, not to sell the cure.

We started this practice because too many apartment owners are paying twice. Sometimes three times. Read why we exist

What makes us different

We are architects, not builders. We diagnose the problem, design the repair, and then work alongside builders who specialise in waterproofing remediation to carry it out, checking their work against the design at every stage. Keeping the people who design the fix independent of the people who price and build it is what protects you.

We prepare and declare the regulated waterproofing designs your building needs under our NSW registration, and we have a Code of Conduct obligation to act in your interests. Most waterproofing failures are not failures of the membrane. They are failures of coordination, so the fix has to be coordinated by someone whose only job is your building.

How proper remediation works

There are five steps, in this order. Skipping any of them is how strata committees end up paying twice.

1. Diagnose the cause, not the symptom. Non-destructive investigation first: thermal imaging, moisture mapping, dye testing where it helps. Water enters in one place, travels through another, and appears in a third. If your investigator does not separate those three, find another investigator.

2. Design the remediation. A scope of works is not a design, and a quote is not a design. The repair needs detail drawings: every junction, the materials, the sequence, and how it will be tested before it is closed up. For apartments this is regulated design work under the Design and Building Practitioners Act.

3. Tender the work properly. A proper design lets several contractors price the same scope on a like-for-like basis. It is the only way to compare quotes that actually mean the same thing.

4. Inspect during construction. Waterproofing fails when the trades do not follow the design. The only way to know they did is to be there at the hold points: membrane lap testing before screeding, flood testing before tiling, junction inspection before finishes.

5. Document the completion. Photographs, test results, as-built drawings, product warranties and final certification. This is what supports an insurance claim, a Design and Building Practitioners Act action, or a future buyer's due diligence. Without it the work is invisible the day the scaffolding comes down.

Read the full guide to apartment waterproofing remediation

What it costs

An initial Class 2 waterproofing consultation is a fixed fee of $660 and includes a diagnostic site visit. Detailed investigation and remediation design are quoted once the scope is clear, and we tell you the cost of each stage before you commit. We do not build the repair ourselves. Once it is designed, we bring in builders who specialise in this work and oversee them against the design, so your building is fixed for good rather than patched again.

Where we work

We are based on the Central Coast and work across NSW. See waterproofing remediation on the Central Coast. Newcastle and Sydney by arrangement.

Good Architect is led by Shea Cullen, a NSW Registered Architect (9748), qualified under the NSW Fair Trading regulations for Class 2, Class 3 and Class 9c work, and a former NSW SES flood rescue technician at Gosford.