Water Penetration thru Common Wall

Broadly speaking, the OC is up for all costs, including repairs and repainting of the adjoining apartments unless a) the problem wasn’t caused by a common property failure or b) the owner of the apartment concerned had damaged common property causing it to fail.

If there’s any dispute over this, it should be handled separately from repairs to common walls etc.  In other words, the OC should fix your walls then, if appropriate, claim costs back from the owner.

Rydel – As Jimmy hasn’t responded as yet, I’ll offer an opinion.

The previous Proprietor who completed the upstairs renovations should have received the consent of your Owners Corporation (O/C) before undertaking those works, and IF that procedure was followed, it’s usual for the O/C’s consent to include a provision to the effect that all ongoing maintenance and repairs to the items comprising the renovations is the responsibility of the Proprietor of the Lot (i.e including subsequent Proprietor/s).

This procedure is in place to safeguard the (structural) integrity of the Common Property during the renovation process and additionally to protect the O/C from any future expense in circumstances where, as examples, the original “developer-quality” tiles may have been replaced by a Proprietor with high-quality “expensive” tiles, or where the waterproofing has not been completed by a Contractor known to and/or engaged by the O/C.

All the above is dependent upon the Proprietor and your O/C following the correct procedures, so your first inquiry should be of your Strata Manager concerning the existence or otherwise of evidence supporting those procedures.

If as often happens, the consent of the O/C was neither sought nor given, then the repairs to and the replacement of the waterproofing and tiles on Common Property areas such as the floor and non-internal walls within the renovated area are, by default, the responsibility of the O/C.

Repairs and replacements to tiles and waterproofing to other areas of the bathroom are the responsibility of the current Proprietor of the Lot.

Dear Jimmy,
I live next door to a unit that has recently sold. Over a ten year period, the owner has leased the property to several different tenants. The property  has been continuously managed by the one Real Estate Agent. I took the opportunity to inspect the unit at a recent open inspection and was appalled at the property’s condition. In addition to a small part of the hall ceiling falling in, most of the rooms had extensive water damage from the common property deck above. The Real Estate Agent’s selling spiel was that the damage was the responsibility of the Owners Corporation and the new owner would not have to pay for the repairs. My question is given that the property has been managed continuously by the one Real Estate Agent who did not report any damage to the Owners Corporation during the ten years, surely the cost of repairs should not rest entirely with us? What are our options?
Many thanks,
Tiaeki