Perhaps stopping the phoenixing of building companies, and some serious penalties for those who have built substandard structures might be a start?
Insurance could work, especially if the insurance company is required to cover major defeats. That way they’d want to see evidence that structure was properly designed and built in the first place before they take on the risk?
Personally, I wouldn’t be buying a strata unless I had to.
In QLD a builder constructing a residential home has to take out Domestic Building Work Home Warranty Insurance with the QBCC (Queensland Building and Construction Commission, formerly the QBSA).
The thousands of $$$$$ in premiums the builder pays to the QBCC is of course recouped from the client.
The builder must warrant his work for 6 years and 5 months. If the builder goes belly up during construction, or a dispute arises between the builder and the client, or a major defect develops (post completion) in the building, the homeowner can claim on the QBCC Home Warranty Insurance.
The QBCC will do everything they can to avoid having to pay out on a warranty claim, it's like trying to get blood out of a stone.
I have heard of people resorting to taking the QBCC to court to try to force them to settle a claim. Some of these battles can run for years whilst people are living in homes that are unfinished or suffering from major defects.
I don't know if the commercial insurance companies could do a better job than the QBCC, I suspect not when you consider there are people adversely affected by natural disasters that are still fighting with their insurer 2, 3 or more years after the event.