Flat Chat Strata Forum Common Property Current Page

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  • #8523
    dogears
    Flatchatter

      Firstly, no other Lot has been affected by the leaking shower.  The bathroom has only one wall affixed to an external wall.

       

      The repair work was arranged (not approved by OC, EC or Strata Manager) by the lot owner 2 years ago and he is now making a claim against the OC for replacement of ALL bathroom tiles and underfloor timbers damaged by the leaking water. The claim includes other items and works which are clearly renovation.

       

      As the repairs are being claimed after the event the OC has requested a complete breakdown of the detailed costings and copies of the invoices from the trades involved.

       

      OC accepts that there probably was a leaking shower recess and is prepared to accept responsibility for replacing the water membrane, floor tiling in the shower recess and wall tiling up to 2 tiles up the shower recess wall.

       

      Who is responsible for the other damage which is all within the Lot concerned?

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    • #17023
      Jimmy-T
      Keymaster

        If the bathroom has been designated common property in the plan, the owner may have a claim. However. under the “Who’s responsible … ” memorandum, even then it  would only be for the immediate damage or defects only.

        More likely, however, you would say that since the bathroom walls are internal and so is the damage, there is no responsibility to the Owners Corp. The Memorandum seems to say that the Owners Corp is not responsible for damage caused by a failure of Common Property – not logical and probably not legal but there it is in black and white and would certinly be used as a guide by an adjudicator at the CTTT.

        Add to the fact that the owner has gone ahead and fixed it, so there’s no way of telling who was responsible in the first place (they could have damaged the tiles and seal doing other work).

        It really is up to the Owners Corp how far they want to go with this and that comes down to community relations.  There are plenty of grounds for limiting or even refusing the payment but if you want to keep everyone sweet, compromise is the key.

        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.
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      Flat Chat Strata Forum Common Property Current Page