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Dear Flat-Chat
I bought a brand new apartment last December, and have incurred two major building faults, which the developer is aware of, but seemingly unwilling to do anything about it. Firstly, in January this year, with heavy rain, a leak from a fire hydrant pipe on the ceiling of the basement car park leaked calcium carbonate from the concrete ceiling onto my car. This caused extensive damage to the paintwork of my car, which cost over $1,000 to fix. I still cannot park in my car space as the leak still occurs whenever it rains. The developer told me that I should have polished the damage out of my car (as opposed to getting it resprayed), despite the fact that the paintwork had been eroded. He is refusing to compensate me for the costs incurred nor has done anything to fix the problem with the leaking pipe.
Secondly, during winter, I noticed extensive mould in my only built in wardrobe in my apartment. On further investigation, I realised that this was partly caused by a leaking external wall drainpipe on to a flat roof, causing water to infiltrate the external wall and into the wardrobe. Secondly, the development appears to suffer from an ventilation problem, as other apartments have incurred similar problems. I noticed that every morning during winter, extensive condensation appeared on the windows and sills of my bedroom. My clothes were covered in mould, smelt extremely musty and in some cases, the mould had eaten away at the material. I had to get rid of leather goods, suiting and wash/dry clean all my clothes as well as thoroughly clean my whole apartment. Other residents in the block have told me that they incurred thousands of dollars of damage in possessions and others have moved out. Some tenants were give humidifiers from their landlords, whilst the developer told me to keep the windows wide open during the day to reduce the problem. Not ideal, in the cold of winter, or if you live on the ground floor (for security purposes). Unfortunately, I am an owner occupier, so am stuck with my property.
I do not feel I should have to pay any Strata until the developer has made some attempt to remedy these problems and/or compensate me for the damage that I have incurred. I understand, that building strata is separate to the developer and covers communal charges and services. However, I am extremely unhappy with the current situation. Whenever, it rains I start to worry that I will incur further leaks and damage to my property. I bought my apartment as an investment property, and believe that it isn’t in a fit state to rent out!
I understand that the developer is legally bound to correct major building faults (within the first seven years of the development). What action can I take to make sure this occurs? What does building insurance cover? Does such insurance cover damage to owner’s property caused by building faults? What action would be taken against me if I ‘choose’ not to pay strata as a sign of protest? At this stage, I have had little response from my Strata manager, who has only forwarded my concerns and correspondence (I have put everything in writing with photographic evidence) to the developer.
I would be very grateful for any advice that anyone can give me! Best Wishes. Dom.*
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In overly simplistic terms, this is what you need to know.
The Owners Corporation – that’s you and your fellow owners – are legally obliged to maintain and repair common property.
The builder or developer has an obligation to rectify defects if they are told about them within the statutory period – currently six years.
If you stop paying your levies, all it means is you will get 10 percent penalty interest charged, plus the cost of employing debt collectors, plus you will lose your vote at general meetings.
So, in the first instance, you Owners Corp should have paid for the respray of the car – they should then seek redress from the builder as part of a larger defect claim.
Most importantly, it sounds like your builder is a cowboy. The damp problem is a building defect – plain and simple – and he is just running down the clock so there can be no defect claim against him.
Right now your Executive Committee should be employing someone like our sponsors IBC to do a thorough assessment of all your building defects – there will be more – and present a case for rectification. If your EC is not already doing this, they are either ignorant or possibly too close to the developer and they need to be voted out.
You need to get involved and get a grip of who is supposed to be doing what in your building.I am assuming the building has hasfd its first AGM and you have anb executive committee in place.
Firstly, you need to write to the Executive Committee and ask them what they are doing about defects. You should copy this the the strata manager.
If you get no response, take an action at the CTTT to at least force them to address the issues. The action would be against the Owners Corp for failure is in its statutory duty to maintain and repair common property.
You should also be communicating with other owners – asking them if they realise that a) the developer needs to fix these problems and b) if they don’t force them to, THEY will have to pay for it themselves. In six yerars time, all it will take is for one owner to say these defectes need to be fixed and the Owners Corp – you and your neighbours – will have to fix them at your own expense.
But whatever you do, don’t go on a one-man levies strike. That’s a last resort and you do that when a large number of owners can’t get the EC to listen to sense and everyone does it at the same time. Not a highly recommended action.
Better to get a group of owners to club together to pay for an expert like a building consultant or a specialised strata lawyer to come in and take control of the problem.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
JimmyT, would you be able to clarify when the clock starts ticking for the 6 year statutory period? From when the builder finished? From when the building was first occupied? When? Also, what is the source (legislation?) for this rule? And, as per your most recent SMH article, the 2-year rule re non-structural defects (leaking showers etc)?
Thanks, Prufrock
For losses arising from defective work, it is six years from the date of completion, or the ending of the contract, whichever is the later.
There are a number of cases on what is meant by “completion”, usually it centres around issue of the occupation certificate.
2 years for loss arising from other than a structural defect encompasses things such as failure to complete, e.g. when a builder walks away, goes into liquidation or fails to do something that is in the contract.
In your case it sounds like you fall into the structural defect camp.
Have a look here.
When I read this original post, it reminded me of an article I read regarding condensation and the any resulting mould. It said that, as we living creatures expel moisture when we exhale that this adds moisture to the air and to combat this moisture one should keep a window slightly open. But what do you do when you don’t have a window to open? I like many strata dwellers only have large glass sliding doors. I do have one window but in order to have cross ventilation, one would need an opening on the opposite side of the unit. I don’t fancy leaving my balcony door ajar at night being grond floor. So perhaps this is a design flaw in strata complexes. Perhaps future strata development plans should include louvre windows alongside the balcony doors to provide ventilation without the need to keep doors open.
We have had residents complain about mould in their units. The EC organized an inspection. The resulting report put the problem down to the residents not providing adequate ventilation of their homes and suggested the cure was some home maintenance.
My solution was ceiling fans. Circulate the air and create my own cross ventilation. And I also read that keeping wardrobe doors ajar helps with air flow. By doing this and ensuring that air can circulate through the place by not packing it to the rafters with stuff and furniture I have little problem with mould. Living in a humid city like Sydney I don’t think it is possible to never have some.
@struggler said:
But what do you do when you don’t have a window to open? I like many strata dwellers only have large glass sliding doors. I do have one window but in order to have cross ventilation, one would need an opening on the opposite side of the unit. I don’t fancy leaving my balcony door ajar at night being grond floor. So perhaps this is a design flaw in strata complexes. Perhaps future strata development plans should include louvre windows alongside the balcony doors to provide ventilation without the need to keep doors open.I got around this problem but fitting pin style window locks at the top of the sliding doors, with holes drilled in the top track frame. I can open the doors wide enough to let air in, but not a body. A similar lock on the OUTSIDE of the door, at the other end, can be used to prevent someone from trying to lift the door out of the tracks. Sliding screens keeps the insects out.
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