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For the past 6 months, there has been water leaking into my unit on my kitchen windowsill from the unit above. Also the paint on the kitchen ceiling has air bubbles in it. A plumber has been sourced to look into this but the problem continues. I have been in contact with the strata manager but she essentially is denying responsibility on the basis that the effected area is in the “air space” ???
Who ultimately has respnsibility for this and how to i go about repairing the damage to the windowsill, and roof?
Paula
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Paula,
Before I (and possibly others) can offer any specific advice, could you please advise if there is a Resident in the Unit above, and if so whether that person is a Proprietor or a Tenant?
Hi Paula,
Very interesting situation. The first thing that needs to be sorted out is fixing the cause of the leak, an initial step would be to visit your neighbour up stairs and see if you can find anything evident in their unit that may be leaking. It is likely that there is an issue with the plumbing in the unit upstairs, and this may not be an OC responsibility to fix. Take for example if it is the sink waste in the unit upstairs, this is the lot owners responsibility to fix.
The repairs inside your unit may be covered by the OC’s insurances, but not the internal paintwork inside your apartment, this may be covered under your contents insurance.
I would suggest calling in a licensed contractor to inspect and quote (giving an itemised quote) for the works needed and proceed from there.
Mr S
Paula – The reason I asked about the nature of the occupancy in the Unit above was in order to suggest the most appropriate way-forward without leaving you burdened with the expense for identifying and rectifying a problem that’s clearly not yours.
Anyway, irrespective of the occupancy (i.e. owner or tenant) and the (irrelevant) fact that the water drops are in the “air-space” of your Lot during their journey to your kitchen windowsill, resolution of the matter is something that should be coordinated by your Strata Manager, who will have contact details for the owner and/or the tenant’s property manager.
Ask your Strata Manager to arrange access to the Unit above by a plumber, who can then investigate and provide advice to him/her about the source of the leakage. Once that’s known, your Strata Manager will be in a position to advise the Unit’s Owner if the costs of rectification is their responsibility (e.g. in the example given by Mr Strata), or to give the plumber the go-ahead if rectification is the Owners Corporation’s responsibility.
Under either scenario you’re not involved in the coordination or the costs of rectification, which is the preferred position particularly as leak detection is often a difficult process, when water tends to follow a consistent pathway even though the source may vary.
Mr Strata said:
The repairs inside your unit may be covered by the OC's insurances, but not the internal paintwork inside your apartment, this may be covered under your contents insurance.
Can we just clarify – if the damage to the paintwork is caused by a common property issue, then making good the paintwork IS the responsibility of the OC since they have effectively contributed to the damage done. I'm stressing this point because strata managers and EC members will often use the definition of what is and isn't common property – the wall is, the paint isn't – to avoid paying for repainting damaged paintwork. That distinction doesn't apply when the problem was theirs to begin with.
Similarly, if the damage was cause by a problem that's the upstairs owner's responsibility, then they have to pay for the repainting (although you may struggle to get the money out of them).
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.
Dear Jimmy,
You may wish to seek some further advice on your position reflected above.
From my experience most Strata Insurers will denie the claim for internal paint work or carpet within a lot, irrespective of the cause. This is because quite simply the OC’s insurance can not insurer property that is not common property.
This is much like if you were to have a car accident, each party claims on their on insurance which in turn pursues the party responsible.
Mr S
No doubt you are right about insurer's refusing to pay for things that aren't insured. However, I have been told that under common law, if a problem on common property results in damage to personal property, the Owners Corporation are liable, regardless of whether or not they are insured.
It's not right or fair for OCs to say they weren't insured so the owner has to pay the bills themselves. What if the owner's insurance refuses to pay or if there's an excess on the policy?
A typical situation would be where repair, say, of common property pipes led to damage and repair of an internal wall of a unit. Who pays the painting bill then?
We've had a few examples of this on this website and on just about every occasion when the Executive Committee has been told it's their responsibility, they have checked with their strata managers or lawyers then paid up. And I think that's right.
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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