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How do I get the Owners Corporation to take responsibility for the incursion of water into my apartment through an aged roof-sealing membrane, and who is responsible for the damage to the ceiling inside the apartment resulting from the moisture?
My apartment is on the top floor of an older block of units and has a flat concrete roof that had a sealing membrane applied many years ago. This seal now appears to be failing and on each occasion after heavy rains in Sydney in the last 2 years my apartment has become extremely moist and the ceilings in several areas have become black with mould very quickly.
The Owners Corporation denies that water is entering the apartment through a now deteriorating roof membrane. The Owners Corporation (OC) and I have had several professional reports done but the results have been too variable to be reliable. Visual observation of the problem, and the repetition of the problem (after serious remediation strategies to address internal moisture), has really been the best indicator that there is an issue with water incursion from outside the building. Mediation only confirmed the entrenched stand-off between the 2 parties.
The apartment is north facing, is open with windows on 3 sides, and would be regarded as naturally well ventilated and sunny. The OC have focused on internal remediation (cost to me rather than them) and have requested improved ventilation, repeated commercial cleaning of the mould effected ceilings and walls, the installation of a dehumidifier, and repainting of the ceiling with a mould resistant paint. None of these things would be considered to be ‘reasonable requirements’ in a regular apartment. The apartment was fully renovated just 3 years ago and at that stage there was no indication whatsoever of moisture, mould or any history of this. The OC has continued to claim that it is internal moisture rather than water entering through the roof after heavy rains. Their suggestions as to how to fix the internal problems have seemed like a stalling tactic on the part of the OC. I have complied with their remediation requests out of good faith in order to give their solutions a chance, and to make the apartment habitable for the tenant. The actual cause of the mould and damage remains, and continues to return.
I have also become aware that the ceiling inside the apartment has started to show recent disintegration of the ceiling material, consistent with water damage to the upper side of the ceiling, between the roof and the ceiling. The ceiling in parts, also, appears to be separating from the concrete roof structure. This could be expected if the concrete roof (under the seal) has had periods of wetness.
Please can you advise: How can I effectively get the OC to work with me on this issue rather than rigidly denying responsibility? All the while it is proving to be expensive (and ineffective) for me to repair the symptoms while the OC claims it is my responsibility, rather than a building issue.
At the last heavy rain episode the apartment became virtually uninhabitable because of the mould. The then tenant would have been well within his rights to leave. Can the OC be held responsible for loss of rental should I lose a tenant over this issue?
And should the ceiling fall down, as I suspect it could, can the OC be expected to meet the cost of repair/restoration given that early remediation of the problem would have minimized any damage to the inside of the apartment? (I should add that my insurance company has stated very clearly that they will not cover this damage because, in their view, it is a ‘building problem’.)
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Oh come on, unless you have installed a greenhouse in the apartment the OC is having a lend of you. I am surprised you have put up with this for so long, and if the apartment is in the state you describe it would be a health hazard for anyone in there. Have you had the air quality checked? What professional reports have you obtained?
Get a roof expert to look at the roof and give a report regarding the state of the roof and the gutters. Roof membranes only last so long and then they need to be replaced, and the same goes for gutters. Presuming that is the case, the OC is obliged to do that.
If the OC refuses, then you can lodge an application for an order for them to do it, as under the current legislation they are failing to maintain the common property under section 62.
If the ceiling falls down then it is the OC’s responsibility to replace it – taking into account that the ceiling is common property. I certainly wouldn’t be paying for any of the damage to your apartment that is being caused by a failure of common property. Note that the OC’s insurance will often cover that, but query whether it will where the OC is put on notice that the common property needs repair, and does nothing about, it or refuses to do anything about it. There are distinctions between what the OC insurance covers and what is covered by your insurance.
There have been cases where this has occurred and the Tribunal has ordered that any costs of repair of the damage caused must be met by all the other owners except for the affected owner.
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