QLD: Are lot owners responsible for maintaining water pressure limiting valves inside their units in high-rise buildings?

Question: Who is responsible for water pressure limiting valves installed in some lower level lots in our high rise building?

Our building is 30 levels high, and the hot water system is on the top level. The system is recirculating, so there is no hot water pressure reduction valve on the building infrastructure like on the cold water infrastructure. Pressure limiting valves have been installed on each lot from level 10 down. Are these limiting valves the responsibility of each owner? They are inside the lot boundary even though they replace what would be on the building infrastructure.

Answer: This would be the lot owner’s responsibility.

Section 180(4)(a) of the Standard Module (which is mirrored in the Accommodation Module) provides that:

180 Duties of body corporate about common property

1. the owner of the lot is responsible for maintaining, in good order and condition, utility infrastructure, including utility infrastructure situated on common property to the extent the utility infrastructure—

   1. relates only to supplying utility services to the owner’s lot; and
   2. is 1 of the following types—

   1. hot-water systems;
   2. washing machines;
   3. clothes dryers;
   4. solar panels;
   5. air-conditioning systems;
   6. television antennae;
   7. another device providing a utility service to a lot; and

It would appear that the pressure limiting valves on levels 1-10:

1. solely service the lot in which they are located; and
2. is part of the hot water system.

Accordingly, it would be a lot owner’s responsibility. If there were evidence that the reduction valve for a particular lot benefitted the entire system, it could be argued that the valve does not just service one lot, and the body corporate would be responsible (as the valve would then not meet the above requirement and fall within the definition of common property in section 20 of the BCCMA).

Todd Garsden
Mahoneys
E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au
P: 07 3007 3753