Question: If repairs are needed in our lot due to water ingress from above, is it the responsibility of whoever owns the upstairs lot? If the ingress is partly due to the age of the building, who is liable?
In this video, ‘VIC: Water Act Claims and Building Defects in Owners Corporations | LookUpStrata‘, the concrete slabs are treated as common property. I live in a building with an old strata plan. The concrete slabs are not common property. They are solid slabs with no pipes or wiring. The lot owner owns the bottom half of the concrete slab. However, it forms part of the structure of the building. I need some clarification.
If repairs are needed due to water ingress from above, is it the responsibility of whoever owns the upstairs lot? If it’s discovered that the ingress is partly due to the age of the building, who is liable? Is it the lot owner or the owners corporation?
Answer: Generally, the person responsible is the owner of the land that has the defect.
The position of legal boundaries will be different for each plan of subdivision. In some cases, the slab will be wholly within common property, sometimes, it will be a median boundary and sometimes wholly private lot property.
In order to ascertain which applies to your development, a careful reading of the plan of subdivision is required.
Generally, if there is a defect to one’s property (whether it is an original building defect, a defect due to age or a defect due to a failure to properly repair and maintain), generally, the person responsible is the owner of the land that has the defect. Sometimes, liability can be passed to the builder (or other parties) if it is an original building defect, subject to certain limitation periods.
This post appears in Strata News #706.
Phillip Leaman
Tisher Liner FC Law
E: ocenquiry@tlfc.com.au
P: 03 8600 9370
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