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[Rob]

Hi there,

So, I come home to find water leaking through my concrete slab ceiling. Strata management is called and a plumber arrives to fix the problem. It so happens to be that the cause of the problem is a common property issue. The issue has left the paint on my ceiling blistered and peeling and I have been quoted $500 to repair. I contacted the strata management to arrange to fix the ceiling, as the problem was caused by common property, and I thought the damage would be covered by the Owners Corporation.

I was told that it was not the owners corporation problem to fix the problem as paint is not common property and that it should be claimed through my insurance. I don’t have insurance, and even if I did the excess would be more than the damage. I explained that, if the cause of the problem had been the upstairs tenant, accidentally flooding upstairs, that I would be asking he/she to pay for the damages.

I think that it is unfair that I should be left out of pocket for damages that I did not cause.

What is the best way for me to deal with this situation?

Cheers

Rob

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[Jimmy-T]

There’s a weird “rule” in the “Who’s responsible …” document that says if there is a leak from common property water pipes, the owners corp isn’t responsible for the damage the leak causes but they are responsible for the damage caused in repairing the leak.

Now, if you can put together a compelling argument that it wasn’t the leak that cause the damage to the paintwork, but the plumber’s repairs, then the OC has to pay.

However, and I have been abused from here to New Year for saying this, I believe if a failure of common property causes damage to your property, then you can seek compensation through a small claims court. 

Send them a bill and when they refuse to pay, take them to court.  Don’t bother with Fair Trading or NCAT, go to your district court. Guess what, they will then claim it against their building insurance.

In fact, I think I’ve read in another post that you can go straight to the building insurer and make a claim against them – but I don’t know if that’s true.

Anyway, just tell the committee you’re coming after them for the money and you won’t stop till you get it.  That might do the trick.

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