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We had a leak coming from somewhere in our apartment causing mould and damage to the apartment below us.
Initially they thought the leak was a pipe near our kitchen and strata said they would likely need to rip out our kitchen but they would pay for us to get a brand new one if need be. Not great…but ok…we were very compliant to help them get the problem solved for our neighbours sake.
When the plumbers came to fix the leak the realised the leak was not where they thought it was but instead, the problem was with one of their pipe under the concrete slab in our living room floor. So the plumbers ripped up our carpet (installed at the end of 2013) to access the pipes to fix the leak.
Strata said they will fix the holes they created in the kitchen and our walls but are not taking any responsibility for ruining our carpet and won’t pay for repairs or a new one. Our insurance company also said they won’t pay as it wasn’t water damaged. So we are left having to fork out for expensive repairs which we simply cannot afford.
We are living in a chaotic state and it is dangerous as there is a huge buckle in the carpet because we can’t get the carpet to lay flat again. We have our furniture everywhere because of the state of the carpet.
I have contacted the Dept of Fair Trading who said we have a case which I mentioned to strata but they said the owners corp would need to take a vote on it. Whilst we have some good people on the body corporate, some are abusive of their power so I remain skeptical.
They have been very firm in say that it’s simply not their problem. I can’t understand why they would pay for a new kitchen but won’t budge on the carpet. Makes no sense.
In this instance is strata liable for either fixing our replacing the carpet which they damaged when they needed to fix one of their pipes?
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I assume by “the strata” you mean the Owners Corporation (body corporate).
According to the government guidelines in the “who’s responsible” document, there is no question that the Owners corp should be repairing or replacing your carpet.
This is what it says (note 13):
If damage is caused to a lot owner’s property while the owners corporation are effecting a repair, the owners corporation are responsible to fix the damaged property.
If you have a strata manager, they should know this and should advise tor committee accordingly. Otherwise, you could tell your committee, in writing, to get on with it or you will be taking them to the tribunal (NCAT) to get orders for the repairs as well as damages for your loss of amenity due to their stupidity and ignorance.
I would also recommend that the person who is blocking this either take the SCA’s free online training course for executive committee members or resign from the committee before they cause any more problems.
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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