Question: A fire hydrant burst and caused water damage to apartments across multiple floors. Who is responsible for removing and replacing flooring and excessive electricity use from dehumidifiers and fans? Is temporary accommodation provided?
In our apartment building, a faulty fire hydrant burst and caused water damage to apartments across multiple floors. Apartments have a mix of hybrid flooring and carpet tiles. Our corporate body has arranged for specialists to remove moisture from the building structure. Dehumidifiers and fans are running 24 hrs around the building and within units.
Who is responsible for carpets and hybrid floor removal and replacement? Where fans are located in units, who is responsible for the excessive electricity use? Does the body corporate insurance provide temporary accommodation for the duration of the repairs?
Answer: Where the strata insurance does not respond to the damaged flooring, the costs and responsibility for removal and replacement fall to the lot owner and their contents/landlord’s insurance.
Carpets and other temporary flooring (such as floating floors) within an owners’ lot are considered contents items and are not covered by the strata insurance. The exception is floating floors. Some strata insurance policies include automatic or optional cover for floating floors. Where the strata insurance does not respond to the damaged flooring, the costs and responsibility for removal and replacement fall to the lot owner and their contents/landlords insurance.
Excess electricity usage for drying equipment is generally claimable. You will need to substantiate the excess usage; potential ways to do this is either by showing the actual increased usage on the next bill compared to the previous year’s bill, or the contractor may be able to provide details of the electricity usage of their machines.
Temporary accommodation for owner occupiers is generally covered by strata insurance if the property is deemed uninhabitable due to damage to the building and/or during the repairs. This is an automatic cover for most strata insurance policies on the market. However, the strata insurance will not respond to temporary accommodation costs for tenants or if the unit is uninhabitable due to damage to contents, such as carpets and/or uninsured temporary flooring. However, landlords can generally claim loss of rent for the period a tenanted lot is uninhabitable due to building damage and repairs.
It’s important to understand that strata insurance will not cover loss of rent or temporary accommodation if the property is uninhabitable solely due to damage to items not included in the policy, such as carpets. However, these costs may be covered by the property owner’s landlord insurance or contents insurance, particularly if there is an extension in the policy for loss of rent or temporary accommodation.
In this instance, we suggest the building speak with their broker for specific advice about their claim and circumstances.
Tyrone Shandiman
Strata Insurance Solutions
E: tshandiman@iaa.net.au
P: 1300 554 165
This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be personal advice on any particular matter. Shandit Pty Ltd T/as Strata Insurance Solutions strongly suggests that no person should act specifically on the basis of the information in this document, but should obtain appropriate professional advice based on their own personal circumstances. Shandit Pty Ltd T/As Strata Insurance Solutions is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 404246) of Insurance Advisenent Australia AFSL No 240549, ABN 15 003 886 687.
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