10 Jul Strata Plumbing: water damage, repairs, maintenance – who’s responsible?
What is strata plumbing?
Strata plumbing is a wide ranging term which includes water supply, drainage of sewage and stormwater and some of the constructed elements of a building such as roofs and balconies.
Is the body corporate responsible to maintain the water supply in owners lots?
For services such as water supply pipes the commencing division of responsibility is that an owner is responsible for services within the lot and the Owners Corporation for services located on common property.
Where a pipe is an exclusive service for a lot, that lot owner is obliged to maintain the service. If lots have separate water meters exclusive service to the lot commences from the meter resulting in the owner being responsible for the pipework within the lot and also that part situated on common property connecting the lot to the meter. If the water supply has common metering where each lot does not have its own meter, the owner is responsible for the service to the point of connection to the common main and this may include part of the service on common property.
Where a service located within a lot which serves more than one lot, it is responsibility of the Owners Corporation to maintain it. An example would be a fire service where the main supply pipe traverses a number of lots. The owner is responsible for any exclusive service such as a branch line and sprinkler serving only their lot.
What are the types of drainage in a strata scheme?
The generally two types of drainage:
- sewerage is the infrastructure for discharging wastewater (water which has been tainted by use), from a lot such as from toilets, dishwashers and showers which may have the names of grey water, brown water and black water depending upon the source;
- stormwater is the run-off rainwater from buildings, driveways, roadways and the like.
Who is responsible for drainage?
As for water supply, the responsibly for drainage in strata plumbing rests with the Owners Corporation common property and owners for their lot.
An owner is responsible for that part of the drainage system, whether sewerage or stormwater which serves the lot exclusively. For example, if there is a drain for a shower, the owner is responsible to the point of connection to the main drain or stack including that part of the exclusive service situated on common property.
Conversely, an Owners Corporation is responsible for a common service located within an owner’s lot such as internal drainage stack serving the bathrooms of multiple apartments. In such instance the Owners Corporation will not be responsible for the pipe connecting to the fixture such as a basin, only that part of the drain serving more than one lot.
In some cases there may be a requirement for water treatment before discharge into the disposal system. An example is a grease trap for premises undertake food preparation or treatment of medical waste. The responsibility for this treatment generally rests with the owner of the lot creating the discharge.
Water damage from the flat above – who is liable?
Usually the person who causes a flow of water is responsible for damage if that flow is unreasonable. For example, if the waterproofing of a balcony is inadequate, allowing water to escape to another lot, the owner of the balcony is obliged to repair or replace the waterproofing as necessary to ensure the water is properly discharged into a drain and not another lot. Similarly with water supply or drainage, if there is a leak from a service for which the lot owner is responsible, the responsibly for strata repairs rests with the owner.
Who is responsible for waterproofing in a strata scheme?
The responsibility for strata maintenance of waterproofing will depend upon whether it is located within a lot or on common property and this is determined by the plan of subdivision. Strata maintenance services may already be a part of your strata fees, which often cover strata building maintenance in general.
Waterproofing usually involves a screed and membrane for areas such as balconies. Good building practice mandates a slope away from the building. For wet areas such as the bathroom, there will be a membrane located beneath tiles or flooring to prevent the escape of water.
Wet areas of the lot such as a balcony or bathroom are the responsibility of the owner to repair and maintain unless the plan of subdivision specifically determines those elements are common property which is unusual.
The strata scheme is responsible for waterproofing of common property.
Is the body corporate responsible for roof leaks?
If the roof is common property, the Owners Corporation is responsible to repair and maintain the roof as required. Where a roof forms part of an owner’s lot, it is a matter for the owner to attend to any maintenance and repair as required. In Victoria this is a matter of survey determined by the plan of subdivision and there is no generic vesting of a roof as common property as may occur in some other jurisdictions.
Does the strata scheme cover hot water systems?
A lot owner will be responsible for the repair and maintenance of a hot water system, associated pipework and energy supply for the lot even if located on common property. If there is bulk hot water, people often wonder does strata cover the hot water system plumbing? In this case, the Owners Corporation is responsible for it and the pipework serving more than one lot. In some Owners Corporations with bulk hot water systems, flowmeters may have been installed to measure the consumption by each lot and the energy supplier may be then recovering the cost of energy from the relevant lot owner.
Who’s responsible for water damage in a strata scheme?
The responsibility for water damage will depend upon the cause, as strata responsibility for water damage can be a tricky subject. If it is from within a lot, the owner will generally be responsible. Such causes may be defective waterproofing on balconies, burst pipes or drains, failure of appliances using water such as a dishwasher or washing machine and hot water services.
In terms of who is responsible for waterproofing in strata and whether an owner is liable for damage caused by a water flow, this will depend upon the specific circumstance – particularly if the owner had knowledge of some defect, such as a leaking balcony, and failed to address this. Damage to common property by a tenant will be the tenant’s responsibility if proven, considering that it may be reasonable for the tenant to hold apartment water leak responsibility in Victoria.
Does insurance in a strata scheme cover water damage?
If there is damage caused by a flow of water such as from a burst pipe it may be possible to lodge an insurance claim for resultant damage. Generally insurance will not cover repairing the burst pipe but operates for the resulting damage such as the need to repaint an area of the wall affected by the escape of water.
The insurance held by the Owners Corporation does not extend to owners goods and chattels within a lot.
If water damage is caused by defective building works, it is unlikely the insurer will recognise this as a claim under the policy held by the Owners Corporation.
As with all insurance claims, there are provisions which permits an Owners Corporation to recover the excess applicable to any claim in specified conditions.