I would like to share a recent NSW NCAT Tribunal decision which illustrates whether or not a strata owners corporation is responsible to waterproof a balcony door.

In this case, it was not disputed that water leaked through the balcony doors separating the bedroom from the balcony. Yet the owners corporation refused to waterproof the glass sliding doors.

The owner decided she did not want to put up with waterlogged carpets main the main bedroom, and went to the Tribunal to ask for an order requiring the owners corporation to carry out the waterproofing repair at its cost.

The owners corporation argued that it was right to refuse to repair the doors because:

(1) the boundary doors were not its responsibility because they were not a ‘boundary wall’ and

(2) the owner had caused the doors to leak when they replaced the timber decking.

The owner won, and the owners corporation was ordered to carry out the waterproofing repairs at its cost.

For a full case note on the Tribunal’s decision click my article Who pays for the repairs if water leaks through a balcony door (which is closed) into a strata property?