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Topic
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Our unit block has a deck, covered by a membrane. Part of the deck, fenced off, is for the sole use of the top floor unit, is not accessable to any other unit resident and has had boards placed on it by a previous owner of that unit. The membrane under the floorboards is now leaking into the unit below.
Who is responsible for fixing the leak and maintaining that part of the deck?
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Normally the membrane would be the responsibility of the Owners Corp but if it has been damaged by the installation of boards, then the person who installed tem and damaged the membrane is responsible.
And before the frenzy of finger-pointing starts, the chain of responsibility has not alteres. The OC needs to attend to the fixing of the common property memberane, than they need to send the bill for repairs to the owner who damaged it.
What should not happen is the OC ordering the owner to fix it and then not being able to get it done because they refuse saying it's not their fault.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
If the entire deck is “Common Property”, a term that does not necessarily imply common or shared use, then the responsibility for fixing the leak rests with your Owners Corporation, who may in this instance be able to recover costs from the current owner of the floorboards; although that will be “messy” as it's a previous Proprietor who placed them there, and it may not be apparent that the floorboards damaged the membrane, or when.
On the other had, if your Plan has registered a Special By-Law covering the Exclusive Use of part of that deck by the Proprietor of one (1) Unit, then it's usual for that Special By-Law to include a Condition that the Proprietor from time-to-time of that Unit is responsible for all on-going maintenance and repairs to the area over which they have that exclusive use.
I'd suggest that you speak with your Strata Manager about whether or not a Special By-Law of the type referred to (above) has been Registered.
Alternatively if you're in NSW, you can do an on-line search of your property’'s Strata Plan using the Land & Property Management Authority's “on-line shop” where all “Dealings” (e.g. Special By-Laws) are listed by Dealing number at javascript:mctmp(0); and then at the following link, where the wording of the individual Dealings can be found: javascript:mctmp(0);
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