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[daveo]

Hello everyone.

I live in a warehouse apartment such that all the units, including my own, have three stories which are ‘vertically self-contained’, i.e. although we have common walls, no other unit is under or over any other unit.

The flat roof of my unit is a tiled terrace which is for my use only. Directly underneath that terrace is my living room. The deck is leaking (a problem with the tanking/membrane I’m informed) and water is dripping into my living room via the ceiling.

Although common sense would tell me that this is (or should be!) entirely my responsibility to repair (my terrace, my living room), I don’t want to foot the bill if my terrace is common property and therefore, I assume/hope, covered by the building insurance taken out by the owners’ corporation.

The strata was registered post 1974 and I live in Victoria.

Is my rooftop terrace in fact common property?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[Austman]

@daveo said:
Sorry for confusing you all regarding “balcony” vs “terrace”. I ended up using the terms interchangeably. I tend to call mine a rooftop terrace but all the outside areas that are for unit owner enjoyment are labelled on the strata plan as balconies, regardless of whether they are tiled rooftop terraces or wooden decks that ‘stick out of’ the side of the building.

Regardless, above my 2nd floor living room is one bedroom and, bending around the bedroom in an “L” shape is a flat, tiled outdoor area for my personal use only. The upshot is that water is coming through the membrane under the tiles and coming through the plasterboard in my living room. It’s just a matter of time until the plasterboard comes crashing down.

Thanks again, everyone. You really have helped enormously (although I’m not sure my neighbours will agree, given they’re all likely to be chipping in to fix ‘my’ terrace).

PS The building was only converted to units in June 2002.

As the building is in Victoria, the rules can be different to other states.  Our OC managers in Victoria have published a guide that states that balcony tiles and waterproof membranes are the owner’s responsibility.  Read it here:

https://vbcs.com.au/pdf/Elevatio/VBCS%20Elevation%20Autumn%202012.pdf

I’ve questioned if this advice it correct.  It’s certainly correct for interior tiles and waterproof membranes (eg in bathrooms): 

From Subdivision (Registrar’s Requirements) Regulations 2011, Part 2, 10 (4):
“(4) Unless otherwise specified on the plan, the location of any building boundary defined as—
(a) Interior Face lies along the interior face of any wall, floor (upper surface of elevated floor if any), ceiling (underside of suspended ceiling if any), window, door or balustrade of the relevant part of the building.  Any internal coverings, waterproof membranes and fixtures attached to walls, floors, and ceilings are included within the relevant parcel;”

But does the same for exterior areas like balconies and roof terraces?  Can Interior Face even apply to exterior areas?

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[Austman]

@daveo said:
Sorry for confusing you all regarding “balcony” vs “terrace”. I ended up using the terms interchangeably. I tend to call mine a rooftop terrace but all the outside areas that are for unit owner enjoyment are labelled on the strata plan as balconies, regardless of whether they are tiled rooftop terraces or wooden decks that ‘stick out of’ the side of the building.

Regardless, above my 2nd floor living room is one bedroom and, bending around the bedroom in an “L” shape is a flat, tiled outdoor area for my personal use only. The upshot is that water is coming through the membrane under the tiles and coming through the plasterboard in my living room. It’s just a matter of time until the plasterboard comes crashing down.

Thanks again, everyone. You really have helped enormously (although I’m not sure my neighbours will agree, given they’re all likely to be chipping in to fix ‘my’ terrace).

PS The building was only converted to units in June 2002.

As the building is in Victoria, the rules can be different to other states.  Our OC managers in Victoria have published a guide that states that balcony tiles and waterproof membranes are the owner’s responsibility.  Read it here:

https://vbcs.com.au/pdf/Elevation/VBCS%20Elevation%20Autumn%202012.pdf

I’ve questioned if this advice it correct.  It’s certainly correct for interior tiles and waterproof membranes (eg in bathrooms): 

From Subdivision (Registrar’s Requirements) Regulations 2011, Part 2, 10 (4):
“(4) Unless otherwise specified on the plan, the location of any building boundary defined as—
(a) Interior Face lies along the interior face of any wall, floor (upper surface of elevated floor if any), ceiling (underside of suspended ceiling if any), window, door or balustrade of the relevant part of the building.  Any internal coverings, waterproof membranes and fixtures attached to walls, floors, and ceilings are included within the relevant parcel;”

But does the same for exterior areas like balconies and roof terraces?  Can Interior Face even apply to exterior areas?

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[Austman]

I have now had a reply to my question from the government authority (Land Victoria).

 

” This office would take the view that all boundaries defined as Interior face, in these circumstances, would take the same principal that applied to the interior of the building and would apply to the balconies etc. “

 

So it looks like in Victoria, for plans of subdivisions registered from October 2011 that use Interior Face, the outside terrace/balcony tiles and any waterproof membranes are not common property.  They are therefore the owner’s responsibility to repair and maintain.  The POS would have to specifically state it if otherwise.

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[Author]

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