Posted:  3 July 2019.   Updated: 2 February 2021

The Owners Corporation is working on and continues to authorise a number of repairs to Common Property in or close to Apartments.  Most works are undertaken by our Handyman - except where a specific trade is required.

In authorising works some repair work will only be temporary in nature as we know that the Remedial Works Program will provide a more permanent solution.

It is important for each Owner to understand the fine line under NSW Strata legislation between what is an Owner's responsibility and an Owner Corporation responsibility.

Essentially an Owner owns the airspace within a lot (some of this may extend to outside elements also).  The airspace extends to immediately under any paintwork and under non-fixed flooring, eg. carpets, floating floors, etc.  Original fixed floor tiles (but not Owner replaced tiles) are Common Property.  Therefore the Owner is responsible for all repairs that are required in these bounds UNLESS it is caused by a failure within the Common Property that causes consequential damage.

Thus if a water leak occurs within the Lot space the repairs to an Owner's lot space and any other consequential damage (to another Lot or Common Property) is the responsibility of the Owner.  Most Owners are encouraged to take out appropriate insurance to protect against such instances.

Water penetration from Common Property is generally an Owners Corporation responsibility; however, adverse storm events and related flooding tend to find the Owners Corporation and the Owner accessing their own insurances to repair damage to either Common Property or a Lot, respectively.

A common issue that does occur is a failure of waterproofing in a tiled shower recess.  Intrusive investigation (taking tiles off the wall or floors can determine where the failure has occurred; however, this is unnecessarily expensive and intrusive.  Most Owners Corporations adopt a simple approach, acknowledging that the leak could be coming from the tiled floor area OR the tiled wall area.  The Owners Corporation in the case of Sunrise Apartments, arranges re-sealing of the shower recess (reducing the need to remove tiles) and splits the cost of the repair 50/50 with the Owner.  Damage caused by the leak is not covered by the Owners Corporation.