Leak from patio above

therightangle

Hello,

I have a leak from the duplex patio above coming through to my apartment ceiling. Has anyone come across this before, and whether the management company is implicated? Complex ~ 7 years old.

If not, did the apartment owner pay full costs? Or is the duplex owner also involved in repair costs as it is on his/her property?

Thanks for any thoughts/experiences

uberwolf

in my view this would not fall to the apartment owner to resolve.


depending on the lease structure the management company may own the patio and be responsible for resolution. Alternatively it's the duplex owner.

contact your management agent as a first port of call

Luca Brasi

If it is due to a structural fault it is an issue for the Management Company. If for some reason the tenant/owner above has done something which causes a leak into your apartment area then it is their responsibility.
If you have to make an insurance claim the assessor will check out the cause of the damage

Lantus

This is a bad situation. Given the age homebond and developer will be non starters so the management company will be responsible for the repair of the fault if that is the cause. Insurance will not cover defects.

The block policy will typically cover consequential loss which means even if it is not covered your damage will be. However, the excess may be several thousand and typically only covers what was there the day the apartment was bought. plasterboard, electrics, kitchen etc. not your carpets, tv or any contents. These must be paid for through yout own content insurance.

Basically unless its massive damage the block policy wont be much good to you. But check anyway as policies will vary.

The company can never be held liable for any loss in your apartment typically as part of the lease.

Hopefully they will have good funds and can employ a contractor to rectify this issue quickly. Make sure you contact them ASAP and in writing is also good as a back up.

therightangle

Thanks all,

Had the Management Company in today with their engineer and builder. Water sprayed around the duplex balcony above and leak generated below.

MC say they/their insurance only get involved if not bad workmanship, and then over the excess of 2,500. But then Im also told that they look after outdoor areas, but this is private balcony....

So leak is at the bottom obtuse corner of a door reveal, where there is a hole or two between bottom plaster and flashing underneath. This leak hasnt appeared until 7 years after construction so Im tempted to say that it is a new development from say plaster getting knocked off, as things bump against the corner...

No loss within the apartment as leak was small and spotted early - just want to avoid paying for the fixing of the leak, as I think it would be difficult to convince the guy upstairs to pay as he is unaffected, even though it is his balcony. Developer is McInerneys in receivership

Chris_5339762

Check your lease documents. The balcony is often not part of the leasehold and is the responsibility of the management company. Them saying its a 'private balcony' may not be correct and they may in fact have responsibility for it.

MMAGirl

Put a satellite dish on the balcony or hang out clothes on it and see how quickly they claim ownership of it.
Management committees always try to get away with repairs. You would think it was their persona accounts the money was coming from.

Lantus

Usually the balcony is part of the common areas and unit owners have a right of access. In that respect is is your private area but NOT private property. The lease documents will specify this exactly so refer to them and use them.

It would be quite unusual for a unit owner to own an external area as the responsibility of things like this regarding leaks is almost nearly always the OMC's responsibility. It is with ours anyway.

D3PO

MMAGirl wrote: »

Put a satellite dish on the balcony or hang out clothes on it and see how quickly they claim ownership of it.
Management committees always try to get away with repairs. You would think it was their persona accounts the money was coming from.

This.

Mind you am I right in saying the problem is with the above balcony but not causing your upstairs neighbour an issue just you ?

Even if you get the MC to take ownership which I bet they are responsible for the balconys getting your neighbour to fork out the excess if they dont have an issue is going to be extremely difficult Id suggest. Also will this kind of repair cost more than 2,500 ? Doesnt sound like it will from what you describe.

Id say yout next step is to actually get some quotes on the work to see if its even worth pursuing the MC any farther

Lantus

D3PO wrote: »

This.

Mind you am I right in saying the problem is with the above balcony but not causing your upstairs neighbour an issue just you ?

Even if you get the MC to take ownership which I bet they are responsible for the balconys getting your neighbour to fork out the excess if they dont have an issue is going to be extremely difficult Id suggest. Also will this kind of repair cost more than 2,500 ? Doesnt sound like it will from what you describe.

Id say yout next step is to actually get some quotes on the work to see if its even worth pursuing the MC any farther

The issue of any excess is generally misunderstood. Its not paid by anyone, simply deducted from any cheque paid out by the insurer. Obvisouly if the excess is 2k then the works would have to exceed this by some amount to make any claim worth entertaining. If the leak is due to some inherent building defect (balcony's being prime suspects) then forget about insurance altogether except for any consequantial loss which as you have stated is pretty much nothing. (at this stage)

As stated the OMC will be the owners of these balcony's (unless the lease proves otherwise.) and so it is their responsibility to sort it out.

If you employed a contractor to engage in works on what is someone else's property you could be held liable.

Push this onto the OMC and state that while the leak is minimal currently the risk of further damage increases with time and that makes them liable through inaction or negligence to act in a timely fashion to remedy the situation.

The OMC should arrange the contractors and the work. Obvisouly any arrangement you come to amicably is great as long as the problem is resolved.

It doesn't sound like the upstairs owner is doing anything to cause this but worth checking anyway. The OMC should pursue this anyway and the builder will need access to both units to affect repairs.

Let us know how it goes.

D3PO

Lantus wrote: »

The issue of any excess is generally misunderstood. Its not paid by anyone, simply deducted from any cheque paid out by the insurer. .

you have just contradicted yourself. The excess is deducted by the insurer but the bill remains the same and has to be paid.

e.g the patio remediation works are 4k. Insurer pays out 1.5k. The other 2.5k still needs to be paid to the bulder who does the work it doesnt just magically dissapear.

Lantus

D3PO wrote: »

you have just contradicted yourself. The excess is deducted by the insurer but the bill remains the same and has to be paid.

e.g the patio remediation works are 4k. Insurer pays out 1.5k. The other 2.5k still needs to be paid to the bulder who does the work it doesnt just magically dissapear.

You are quite right of course and I dont suggest otherwise. The question is who is liable for any excess. The OMC if it is a building element typically and if its internal leaks then usually the unit owner claiming or sometimes the OMC will pay and recover through the service fee across all units. It can vary.

In this case I am fairly sure a builder will resolve it quicker and cheaper than insurance.