Question: Our body corporate and caretaker are hounding us to repair a leak at the front of our lot. Our thorough investigations point to the responsibility of the body corporate, however the committee are still insisting we are responsible.
My wife and I are being hounded persistently by our body corp.
We were informed that a leak from a very old reticulation point in front of our two units is our responsibility. The reticulation was installed many years before we owned the lots.
In good faith, we called in the plumbers. The line was pressure tested and was said to be holding the pressure. This was followed by leak testing and was carried out from the valve to the house of both units. The plumber confirmed ‘NO leak was detected’ with a suggestion that the leak was probably caused by runoff from somewhere unknown, possibly not even in our gated complex.
We are still being hounded by the Resident Caretaker. We have already accrued bills for $400 to investigate the matter.
Have we fulfilled our duties in trying to eliminate the perceived problem? What is the next step?
Answer: Take a little time to write a measured response to the Committee and the Caretaker, outlining the history of events and what action you have taken.
From the information provided it seems that you have done what you can in responding to the questions of the body corporate.
It should also be noted that it seems reasonable that the body corporate has asked you these questions – problems only get resolved through investigation.
As a next step, I would take a little time to write a measured response to the Committee and the Caretaker, outlining the history of events and what action you have taken, including all documentation from your plumbers. State that you do not believe this is a matter for your lot to resolve. Ask for your correspondence to be included as an agenda item on the next Committee Meeting with a request that the Committee formally note the information provided and record if that they have no further questions to ask you.
In the correspondence, you can note that you will take no further action on the matter unless the body corporate can provide evidence that a fault exists on your property. You can also note that you believe the behaviour of the caretaker to be inappropriate and request that further correspondence on the matter comes from the Committee.
One thing you might want to consider is what is driving the inquiries of the caretaker. Are they pushing you independently or is the Committee pushing them to push you? You might calibrate your response based on that.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
Leave a Reply