The Situation
An investment fund engaged us on a bulk purchase of twenty luxury duplexes in a completed scheme, offered at premium pricing. The units presented to a high standard across tiling, fittings and paintwork, and the developer had issued a structural integrity certificate.
Our inspection found cracking in load-bearing walls and reinforcement that did not follow the structural detail. Those two findings together are not a finishing defect, so we recommended non-destructive integrity testing before any commitment.
The tests returned concrete strength materially below the design specification.
The fund did not proceed.
A certificate issued by the party selling the asset is a representation, not an independent finding, and it carries the value of whoever stands behind it. On a bulk acquisition the exposure compounds, because a defect in the build method is not confined to one unit. It is present in every unit built the same way.