Bluecon...our worst nighmare

We decided in 2019 to build our dream home. We sourced a plot in Sandown (new suburb close to Parklands North, Cape Town) and was assisted by a real estate agent with the purchase process. They also recommended our builder, Bluecon, who has over 20 years of building experience. We agreed to a budget for the build and timelines. All went well until we noticed during the first part of the build that the home was not built according to the approved plans (a wall outside the courtyard was build in the incorrect place and not what we signed off on). The COVID-19 pandemic 1st lockdown in March 2020 resulted in an immediate stop on any construction work in SA. This, however, re-opened in June 2020. We were promised a quality build with on-site supervision throughout (as per the contract) and that we will have occupation by Spring 2020 (we eventually took occupation in December). During the build, numerous commitments were not honored which resulted in us doing site visits daily for almost 2 months before occupation. Due to the delays and loss of income (home includes a granny flat studio), Bluecon compensated us with R8000. This does not come close to the money we had to spend on unwanted additional rental, storage and bond payments. Some of the 'quality' workmanship Bluecon found as acceptable practice: bathroom window handles that had a piece sawn off to ensure the window was lockable; exterior paint was used inside the home which meant that the walls were rough to the touch; grouting in the main bathroom was done in two different colours; some windows were skew and had to be removed and replaced; light fittings in the lounge had to be redone at least 3 times as the lights were not aligned; earth leakage problems with our electricity prior to moving in and after (only resolved in July 2021 after we as the home owners appointed an independent electrician to correct the electrical issues - Bluecon covered this cost); water connection still not done (11 months later); no prepaid electricity as promised (11 months later); etc. How does a builder allow such standards to be acceptable for any client? Most recently, with heavy rains in Cape Town, we've had numerous water leaks. After at least 3 attempts by Bluecon to waterproof the roof we finally decided to get an independent party in to evaluate the status of the roof (note that we are now hosting airbnb guests that had to endure constant remedial work). The independent qualified company identified numerous remedial work which equates to close to R60k in repairs. In April we logged a complaint with the NHBRC. NHBRC provided the builder an opportunity to repair work since then. We are currently awaiting the legal dept from the NHBRC to inform us of actions to protect us as consumers and future Bluecon customers. They also informed us this week that, after one of their engineers inspected the roof based on our complaint, it was found that a section of the roof was not built to the approved plan. We have never experienced such incompetence. We will not share here the experiences of our neighbours as it is their own journey and experience to share when they are ready. We are utterly disgusted and disappointed in the way we were treated throughout this journey and hope that this review will place our experience on record for others to consider.