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Hi,
we had some damage from a movement in the ground on our house with 6 flats. The repairs are quite expensive, but some flats are more damaged than others. There are cracks in the brickwork and leaking pipes etc.
The question I have, is who pays what? Is the corporation paying for everything? Including the waterproofing, tiles, render and paint inside the building? Or will the work be classified as owners responsibility versus coop responsibility?
Thanks for all info!!
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In the first instance the Owners Corporation (O/C) is responsible for correcting whatever it is that caused the ground movement and for doing whatever is reasonably necessary to ensure that it doesn’t occur again.
The O/C is then responsible for repairing all damage to its building that has arisen as a consequence of the ground movement, and that includes to the internal surfaces of walls, the upper surfaces of floors including anything on or within those (like tiles and pipes), and to any areas that may be accidentally or unavoidably damaged as a consequence of the O/C making its repairs (like cracking the render on the inside whilst repairing an outside wall).
There are a few complications in circumstances where an Owner has, without the prior consent of the O/C, renovated their Unit and for example replaced the original wall tiles with something far more expensive, but I won’t get into that unless it’s relevant; let’s know if it is.
I agree with what Whale says but the Strata may be able to reduce the cost by claiming on their Insurance Policy, but if the damage is caused by Earth Movement then you need to check the Insurance policy PDS as it is a minefield of what is and is not covered under this event.
Even if it is not an insurance claim it is still Strata reasponsibility to fix.
It might not seem fair when you first look at it, but it is fair that if someone’s lot is damaged due to a defect in common property or something that is OC responsibility, then the OC has the responsibility of fixing it.
The only reason that certain owners have to have their bathrooms repaired/renovated is because of something for which the OC is responsible. In the case of owners who aren’t affected, they have a choice as to whether they renovate or not. The owners with damaged lots don’t have that choice.
You can draw an analogy with insurance. You pay insurance to cover you for the possibility of having to make a claim on it, but you may never have to. Your premiums are paying for the people who do make claims. Obviously that is not quite the same situation, but the other thing is that when you buy into strata you accept that you are responsible for things like this.
It’s not quite clear whether the movement you refer to is something like an earthquake or a natural occurrence, in which case as kiwipaul suggests you should check your insurance policy.
Fkone – as you’re satisfied with everyone’s responses I’m somewhat reluctant to raise this related issue, but….
Before you and others renovate bathrooms or indeed any other areas of your Units, you must advise your Owners Corporation about precisely what you’re proposing to do, and seek its written consent to that.
Just one of the consequences of not doing so is that if an area such as a bathroom wall or floor is again damaged by an occurrence such as ground movement, the Owners Corporation need only make or pay for repairs to a standard equivalent to what was there before the renovations.
If you think about it that’s fair, if for example the original tiles that cost say $1ea may have been replaced by a cashed-up owner with ones costing $50ea, then the Owners Corporation shouldn’t be responsible for matching owners’ extravagance.