Blink Property
When someone says 50 shades of grey, most people think of the books or the movie… but mention it to a landlord or a tenant in Queensland and the many grey areas around who is responsible for repairs and maintenance in rental properties might come to mind instead.
There’s a leak in the gutter, or a crack in the balcony tiles, or algae in the pool, or a flood in the garage… who is responsible?
Before we try to tackle some common questions and problems, it’s important to note this DISCLAIMER: Circumstances and rules change not only from state to state, but from body corporate to body corporate and even by-law to by-law. So take this information as it is…general.
For confusion around your specific property, you need to contact your strata manager directly. If you are a tenant, always contact your property manager.
Generally speaking, in Queensland, the body corporate is usually responsible for maintaining parts of a building or complex that are external and shared, while the owner is responsible for the interiors and exteriors of their own individual lot.
As defined by Queensland Government law:
– Roads, gardens and lawns on common property
– Facilities on common property (like swimming pools and barbecues)
– Utility infrastructure (like equipment, pipes and wiring) that is on common property, or in a boundary structure, or services more than one lot.
– The inside of the building, including all fixtures and fittings (except utility infrastructure that is common property)
– The outside of the building within their lot boundary, including exterior walls, doors, windows and roof
– The building foundations
– All lawns, gardens and driveways inside the boundary of their lot
– Utility infrastructure (like equipment, pipes and wiring) that is inside the boundaries of the lot and only services that lot
– Any fixtures or fittings (including on common property) that were installed by the occupier of a lot for their benefit
– Exclusive use areas the owner has the benefit of, unless the exclusive use by-law says otherwise
There are plenty of stories of people being surprised by who has ended up responsible for something.
There was the case of the couple living on the top floor of a boutique 3-storey block of 7 units. They had a large rooftop balcony as part of their property, which was leaking down to the below apartment due to some cracked tiles.
Sounds like their responsibility alone, right? Wrong. Turns out the balcony was considered part of the external structure or skeleton of the building and therefore body corporate responsibility. The extensive repairs required ended up costing each owner in the building more than $10,000, even though only one owner benefited from the newly sealed and tiled balcony.
The above story covers two of the most common causes for confusion, the balcony and the roof. Again, generally speaking, the rules around these are as follows:
Roof- Only leaks or damage to shared roofs would ordinarily be looked at by the strata. Shared roofs may be in apartment complexes, or rows of townhouses, etc. If there’s no shared roof, it’s generally the responsibility of the individual owner.
Balcony- Most of the time balconies are the responsibility of the individual owner, but occasionally they can be considered part of the building and handled by the strata. Sometimes, they can be the responsibility of an owner, but need to be repaired to the standard of the rest of the building. Eg, if you need to replace a cracked balcony railing in an old building, you may have to choose the same dated colour scheme for the replacement.
Assuming is one of the biggest mistakes investors make. Unless you see it in writing, it’s a good idea to ask the strata. Throw some scenarios at them to do with leaking roofs or cracked balcony tiles and see what the rule would be in your new building.
The other big question to ask is about waterproofing. Buildings built in the 1980s or earlier weren’t required to have it. So ask your strata if there is waterproofing and who would pay for damage otherwise. That is one issue that can be very expensive.
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