Austman – we’re back to differentiating between what an Owners Corporation (O/C) may be legally required to do and what its insurer may cover subsequent to damage by a defined event.
In my experience it’s always been the case that an O/C’s building insurance doesn’t provide cover for paint and wallpaper, with the rationale being that those items are not common property, but are rather sometimes attached to it in a non-permanent way such that matching a replacement may be impossible.
In some instances, some O/Cs adopt that same approach on the basis that irrespective of what it’s insurer may or may not cover, the NSW Legislation requires it to only maintain and repair its common property, and not items that are non-permanently attached and therefore do not form part of it.
That’s a tenuous argument I agree, but it’s nonetheless one with significant precedent, a long-standing point of discussion, and a cause of conflict such as in Derek’s example, albeit with mitigating circumstances, and that I assume is why insurers such as THIS ONE are now offering NSW O/C’s optional cover for paint and wallpaper.