› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Common Property › Who pays for damage to strata common area? › Current Page
Dudley – Have you considered the option of contributory negligence i.e. both parties being negligent?
This option considers that the following chain of events may have occurred – the OC may have have been responsible for not repairing the latch in a timely manner, however the additional damage may have been exacerbated by the Tenant’s subsequent behaviour.
A response to this option would involve the OC obtaining a quote and then the OC and the Owner agreeing to pay a proportionate amount of the repair cost depending upon the level of negligence e.g. 50/50, 60/40 etc.
The OC can either repair the gate and then seek reimbursement of the Owner’s proportion from the Owner, or can wait until the Owner provides their proportion.
However, be mindful that if this gate provides security to the Lot (assuming that the gate is located in the common property wall) then there is a strong argument that this gate needs to repaired as quickly as possible. If not repaired quickly then the OC may find itself responsible for the cost of any damage or theft of the occupant’s property now that the gate no longer provides security to the courtyard.
I would advise the OC to repair the gate ASAP and then seek compensation from the Owner.
The OC may have largely avoided this situation had the latch been fixed from the outset.