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Greetings to everyone on this very informative website, which I have recently had my attention drawn to.
Please forgive me if this lengthy matter has been raised before.
I own & live in a high-rise Sydney CBD 7 year old apartment since day 1 of completion. Early last month there was a fire in the unit directly above me. This occurred when I was not at home. The fire brigade extinguished the fire and broke down my front door, I am guessing to see if all was ok inside. They smashed my fire door, deadlatch and electronic security latch.
I returned home to find an unlocked door, extensive water damage and cracks in most ceilings with water still dripping through. Pelmets and cornices were cracked along with some walls. Balcony cracks have appeared. There were cracks around the front fire door frame where the door was forced. No fire damage though.
Building management arranged to install a padlock on my door so I could at least lock it from the outside whenever I left. However, a padlocked door is a sure sign that nobody is inside. Plus the electronic latch remained unrepaired.
A strata insurance assessor finally assessed my damage after a couple of weeks and agreed to replace the front fire door and warping floorboards. The drying and cleaning of the carpet, furniture, repair/repainting of the ceilings, replacement of damaged goods was hastily, and without concern, placed in my hands which I reluctantly had to make a home contents claim for ( I did advise my insurer on the night of the event what has happened to make sure they were aware). All this is through no fault of my own.
A month passed and a new unpainted fire door was installed. A Lockwood 002 single cylinder deadlatch with lever was installed to replace my Lockwood 001 double cylinder deadlatch with knob instead. The electronic security latch was reinstated.
Question 1: Have regulations changed as to why the replacement lock should be different?
Question 2: I am at a loss as to why the ceiling, plus walls, restoration (both concrete and plaster, all original) need to be carried out through my insurance and not Strata?
Question 3: It still baffles me why I had to claim at all and risk higher insurance premiums when this event was not caused by me. Strata it seems can raise levies at their whim but can an owner deduct his costs from levies due?
Question 4: Who is responsible for cracks appearing on the balcony? i.e. the underside of the balcony above me. The cracks within my apartment are becoming more extensive ever expanding since the eventThis has caused me a great deal of inconvenience and anxiety. Hope your readers can provide me with some useful information during this awful period.
Best regards
WaterworldMM
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Replies
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Have regulations changed as to why the replacement lock should be different?
Ans: To my knowledge the only applicable requirement would be that the lockset should be able to be opened from inside your unit without the need for a key.
I am at a loss as to why the ceiling, plus walls, restoration (both concrete and plaster, all original) need to be carried out through my insurance and not Strata?
It still baffles me why I had to claim at all and risk higher insurance premiums when this event was not caused by me. Strata it seems can raise levies at their whim but can an owner deduct his costs from levies due?
Ans: An Owners Corporation (O/C) is responsible to properly maintain and repair its Common Property including that necessary due to any failure in or on those areas. Whether or not in the circumstances you describe your O/C seeks to fund those repairs in full or in part via a claim on its building insurance is at its discretion, but the fact remains repairs to affected areas of its Common Property such as ceilings and common walls is the O/C’s responsibility and I’m surprised that your contents insurer accepted your claim without first questioning the O/C’s refusal to meet its obligations under Sect 62 of the Act.
Who is responsible for cracks appearing on the balcony? i.e. the underside of the balcony above me. The cracks within my apartment are becoming more extensive ever expanding since the event
Ans: Maintenance and repairs to the balcony soffit and to common walls within your lot is the O/C’s responsibility, with the exception of re-painting the latter as that’s regarded as an Owners’ “removable surface”, just like floating floorboards are to a lot’s concrete floor slab (i.e. the Owners’).
I’d refer you to Whales’s answer regarding the Owners’ Corps responsibility to maintain and repair common property.
Regarding repairs to lot and personal property, this fall more under common law than strata law. To put this simply, someone screwed up, either actively (they had an accident) or passively (the didn’t maintain their property or equipment) and that cause d a flood that damaged your property.
If the upstairs owner or tenant (or both) is at fault, you should be sending them a bill for the damages. If they doin’t have insurance – that’s too bad …that was a gamble the took and it didn’t pay off.
And even if the OC is liable for repairs, they too should be claiming against the the person who caused it.
So you and your EC need to realise that you are on the same side and work out the most effective way of getting compensation for everyone concerned.
It’s only when the culprit refuses to pay or can’t pay that your insurance should kick in. And if the Owners Corp refuses to fix common property, threaten to run them through NCAT and see what the reaction is.
Having said that, many insurance companies will just pay small claims themselves on a swings and roundabouts basis because it is cheaper to do that and count on other insurers doing the same, than it is to fight every claim in court.
Like bad umpiring decisions in cricket – it evens out eventually.
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.
Jimmy and Waterworld – I’m not sure that the fire and resultant water damage compliments of NSW Fire & Rescue could (or should in these circumstances) be traced back to an active or passive screw-up by the occupant of the Lot.
I’m still inclined to use Strata Law to resolve this matter, where the Owners Corporation (O/C) has an unfettered responsibility to properly maintain and repair its common property, and the discretion to claim all or some of the costs of doing that against its building insurance.
So to reiterate the above and my initial response to Waterworld‘s question “…. should the ceiling, cornices and pelmets (all original) be repaired by the O/C insurer?“, my answer is that it’s the O/C that must have those repairs attended to, and whether or not to lodge a claim with its Insurer for all or some of the costs of doing that is a matter for it to decide and for you to keep away from.
As I’m travelling through rural NSW right now and am posting using fat fingers on my iPhone, I’ll need to keep this brief.
Previous posts have advised that irrespective of whether or not the Owners Corporation’s (O/C) insurer agrees to accept and process its claim for the repair of your lots ceiling, the O/C remains responsible for attending to the repair of that ceiling – that forms part of its common property.
You need to apply for the mediation of your dispute with the O/C under the provision of Sect 138 of the NSW Act, with the assistance of a NSW Communty Justice Centre or the NSW Dept. of Fair Trading.
Mediation is a compulsory precursor to the formal adjudication of your dispute if necessary in the Commercial Div. of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
I can’t include the relevant links using my iPhone, so perhaps browse the relevant NSW Govt. websites for “strata disputes” (unless someone can post those links).
Well, I’m in Cuba but I do have Internet … for now.
Here is an article that lays it all out (again). It also has all the relevant links.
And, to get you started, here is the link to the mediation form, which is required before you can launch any action at the CTTT.
Also, if you are looking for compansation, the fact that NCAT won’t make financial awards is a n accepted reason for taking matters straight to the Supreme Court – you might want to whisper that in your strata manager’s ear.
As has been explained many times, there is no excuse for your EC not doing anything. But there are no StrataKops who are going to come and cart them off to jail. You have to drive this and make keeping you happy the least worst of their options.
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.
WW – any claim for a reimbursement of your insurance excess would be against the person at fault, where presumably you believe that to be either your prevaricating Owners Corporation (O/C) or “offending owner” of the Unit above yours.
Notwithstanding the other issues that you’ve mentioned where the O/C may well be complicit, it’s not in my opinion responsible for causing the damage to your Unit that’s now the subject of an insurance claim, and as I mentioned in an earlier post the Owner of the Unit above yours has not in my opinion “offended” either actively or passively, in circumstances where the water damage was actually caused consequentially by the activities of NSW Fire & Rescue.
The decision about pursuing the recovery of your contents’ insurance excess is clearly yours to make, and even though you’ve been royally stuffed-around by your O/C, I’d be inclined to be grateful for small mercies and leave the issue of the excess alone, and to instead concentrate on those possibly more important issues involving its activities at the upcoming AGM; but that’s me!
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