Hello, This is in WA. If their is a water leak inside the the wall of the unit who is liable for repairs/damage? It looks like the leak is in the pipe going to my unit but in the wall not in the unit. Unit owners pay no water consumption and it isnt metered but their is a outside meter(unused) with a tap that isolates the individual unit. My thoughts would be in the wall is strata but their is the exclusive use issue. Any ideas would be appreciated
We had a water leak behind a bathroom wall in a unit IP. Manager phoned us, told us about it and said the BC would repair and retile. They did. (Qld). Marg
Ive had this happen to an original bathroom before. I was asked to pay for grouting as an owners responsibility. Should have charged the strata for lost rent whilst my unit was unavailable as they carried out repairs to common property =P
In Queensland the location of the dividing wall is relevant - just because a service is in a wall does not make it body corporate. Internal unit walls (walls between bedroom and ensuite for example) are considered within the lot, and only the external walls of the unit are a dividing wall and therefore contained infrastructure is common property. I'd say the WA legislation likely has some similar provisions that you should research through your state body corporate regulatory body. Matt
My take would be ...... if the leak is before the isolating valve for your unit , it is on the common supply pipe and the strata's responsibility if the leak is on or after the isolating valve ( tap ) for your unit it would be your responsibility for repairs and restoration
This is the same in NSW. The responsibilities for the strata stop at the line defining your lot plus some coverage on items that were part of the original strata such as the waterproofing in a shower. Even the waterproofing can be mute as a leak can be blamed on the grout of the tiles which is the responsibility of the owner. Gets worse if there have been renovations in which case the waterproofing is no longer a strata issue. Being on the executive of a few BC, sometimes I wish it would be an strata issue as it would save a lot of time and hassles for the strata manager and myself as owners never want to fix anything personally. In serious cases we now fix issues via the strata and then charge the owner just to get it done.
correct, and correct. The only complication is that the strata insurance policy may cover it if it's a burst pipe within a Lot Owner's wall, even thought the pipe is the Lot Owner's property. Once you've fixed it, send the invoice to the strata manager and ask them to lodge a claim on the Owners Corporation's policy.
