Question: If a plumber report states older hot water systems should be changed in case they break, can the strata manager demand they be changed?
Our Strata Manager appointed a plumber to do a plumbing audit for all the apartments in our building. The report stated that, in the opinion of the plumber, the electrical hot water system should be replaced as systems older than 12 years are prone to splitting. The building is 15 years old.
The Strata Manager has demanded we replace our hot water system within 30 days. There is nothing wrong with the hot water system. Are we obligated to replace the system because the Strata Manager has demanded? Does the Strata Manager have the power to demand this?
Answer: We would not likely deem this sort of maintenance request unreasonable, in fact we would usually recommend this sort of preventive maintenance as the standard to which managers and committees operate to save their owners money in the long run.
Firstly, it is great to get these plumbing audits done to ensure that common property utility services are running at their most efficient and detect for any leaks or breakages that may be causing damage to common property without the owners realising. For example, a slow leaking pipe that is sending water into a concrete surface or substrate can be detrimental to the integrity of your building.
As a general rule, electric hot water systems last between 10-15 years and in maintenance plans, this is what we would usually be budgeting. Your climate conditions however may reduce this due to high humidity and salt corrosion.
Given that your building is 15 years old and likely to be in a humid, salt corrosive location, we would usually recommend the hot water units be replaced by this time as well. Having a hot water unit burst because relief vales or pipes have failed due to pressure can be a catastrophic maintenance emergency for a body corporate. Particularly if it occurs over a weekend of public holiday. Given Australia’s current labour and material shortages as well, parts and trades may not be as freely available to service an emergency maintenance issue such as this, resulting in owners without hot water for days and damage to common property that would be slow to repair.
Whilst to the layman eye, the hot water systems may not appear to have anything wrong with them, they are an inevitable expense at some point. The question is, how much more would it cost for a major clean up should they explode one night causing damage to walls, ceilings, electrical systems etc plus the need to then replace them as well.
Regarding the obligation to replace them just because the strata manager has asked for this, it would come down to what powers the strata manager has been delegated. If the strata manager has the powers delegated by the owners to organise maintenance, they could initiate the replacement of these hot water systems giving consideration to the schemes financial health, sinking fund balances etc.
If you have concerns with the powers delegated to your manager, it could be something you discuss with a body corporate specialist or solicitor, but in first instance, I would suggest having a conversation with the strata manager to understand their logic and reasoning.
As per the above, we would not likely deem this sort of maintenance request unreasonable, in fact we would usually recommend this sort of preventive maintenance as the standard to which managers and committees operate to save their owners money in the long run.
This post appears in Strata News #607.
Dakota Panetta
Solutions in Engineering
E: dakotap@solutionsinengineering.com
P: 1300 136 036
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