Question: A lot owner carried out cosmetic repairs to concrete cancer in their lot. Years later when the defect resurfaces, is the body corporate still responsible to rectify the defect?
A lot owner found concrete cancer on the floor of their lot. Instead of reporting this to the body corporate, they carried out a cosmetic repair. The concrete cancer has now reoccured years later.
Is the body corporate responsible for the resulting major repair costs if a new owner has now purchased the lot?
Answer: The body corporate is ordinarily going to be responsible for the works to repair concrete cancer.
I think the starting point is that the body corporate is ordinarily going to be responsible for the works to repair concrete cancer. If an owner did a cosmetic repair, then it sounds to me like the actual issue wasn’t addressed, as much as covered up. That cover up would not ordinarily displace the body corporate’s statutory obligations to be responsible for the issue, but that is a question of degree about how ‘cosmetic’ the repair was.
The new owner might have a claim against the old owner with respect to the contract where this issue was not disclosed, but that is between them as buyer and seller – not the body corporate.
The other issue is that if it is in one lot it may be in more, so I would suggest its audit time for that issue!
Frank Higginson Hynes Legal E: frank.higginson@hyneslegal.com.au P: 07 3193 0500