apartment flooded - floor waste requirements

Hey all, hoping someone familiar with QLD building requirements might be able to give me some advice.

I am living in a high rise unit (renting). I went on holidays and left my washing machine tap on. It is in a really awkward place and easily forgotten about. The hose connection leaked and there is no floor waste or water proofing in my laundry so the entire apartment and outside hallway flooded. I have no contents insurance. The total bill is 4k.

I believe the owner is putting a claim in on their landlords insurance but I will have to pay the excess and the building manager has informed me I may have to pay the full amount as the damage was my fault - it's my washing machine.

From what I understand of the building codes a laundry in a high rise unit should be water proofed and have a floor waste. So basically what I want to know is if there is any way I can get out of paying the excess or the full 4k if they demand that?

I do realise it is my fault and I should have turned off my taps before going away. If push comes to shove I will cough up with the money if I have to... But the building is owned by a massive corporation so ideally I'd like them to have to pay if possible.

 

That's just wrong thinking.

Also LL's insurance does not cover you as a tenant for your possessions. It covers the LL.

 

yeah fair enough. The bill was to repair/dry the carpet, water in walls and a set of permanent drawers. Does not include my possessions. I don't really own anything worth any value.

 

• Yes, you will pay the owner's excess, then the insurance company will chase you for the costs of all of the damage
• Floor waste - refer to the building code. It may not be necessary in all instances to have a floor waste nor waterproofing.
• It's irrelevant who owns the building, their insurer will still come after you. It just means that they may be able to afford a bigger lawyer.

 

On the face of it, I agree with you that it doesn't seem to comply with present code: F1.11 of Volume 1 of the NCC requires class 2 buildings (residential apartment buildings) to have a waste, with a graded floor, in laundries.

There may be an exception if you don't have anybody underneath you, or if the laundry doesn't contain a tub.

The question is whether it complied with the code at the time it was built. If it did, then they're not required to change the building to comply with new code.

The other question is whether non-compliance with code shifts legal responsibility. I'd like to think so but I don't know.

 

There is a unit below me and there is a tub in the laundry. And it is a brand new building. I am the first tenant in the apartment.

 

In that case, I would be arguing non-liability on the basis of non-compliance with the NCC.

 

Does this mean that if a tenant (for example) accidentally burns down a house, the insurance company can come after the tenant for the entire value of the house??? How did I not know this was possible??

 

Shouldn’t people be responsible for their own actions?

 

Lots of examples here - from a community legal centre - shows that insurers claims not always justified either.
https://www.westjustice.org.au/cms_uploads/docs/westjustice-landlord-insurance-policies-report.pdf

 

I can only say what happened in one of my IPs. The tenant was out, I believe for a few days, and the water was left on, the house flooded with about 20,000 litres of water. When she came home she rang the PM, who did nothing. Long story, I didn't find out until the next week - I contacted my insurance and due me not contacting the insurer within a reasonable time (and the fact that nothing was done to dry the place and prevent further damage) the insurer didn't want to pay for some of the repairs- including removal of walls, vanities, carpets etc. I paid the $500 insurance excess and, after much discussion, the insurer did fix the property. I suppose a lot depends on the insurer, and the policy. I was advised by the PM that the tenant was required to pay the excess, but they had lost a lot of personal items so I just paid it. Perhaps you need to contact the RTA (if you are in QLD) to get some accurate information around your situation- better to be prepared with accurate information. Home | Residential Tenancies Authority

 

Run.

Alright, alright. Get legal advice. Then run.