Who’s responsible, body corp or landlord?

Properties can cost a lot to maintain over the years and it can seem like there’s always something popping up… a tree root in the plumbing, a crack in the tiles, or a leak in the roof.
These can be expensive, but tenants have the right to live in a home that is kept up to scratch, so these issues need to be promptly taken care of. However, it may not always be your responsibility as the landlord. If your property is in a strata building, there will be times when the body corporate will need to cover the cost of the repairs.
So, how do you know who is responsible?

State of confusion

It is first important to understand that in Australia, tenancy laws are governed at a state and territory level. And then there are the by-laws of the body corporate to consider. So, circumstances and rules change not only from state to state, but from body corporate to body corporate and even by-law to by-law. That’s why the rest of this article contains information that 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 most states, the body corporate will usually be 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.

Here are some examples:

Body corporate responsibilities

– Roads, gardens and lawns on common property
– Facilities on common property (like swimming pools, barbecues, games rooms and gyms)
– Utility infrastructure (like equipment, pipes and wiring) that is on common property, or in a boundary structure, or services more than one lot.

Individual landlord responsibilities

– The inside of the owner’s building, including all fixtures and fittings
– 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

And when it’s not so straightforward?

There can be a number of grey areas…especially in buildings where properties are separated by walls only and lots have multiple boundaries in common.
As a result, people are often surprised by who ends 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 of the building and therefore body corporate responsibility. The extensive repairs required ended up costing each owner in the building, even though only one owner benefited from the newly sealed and tiled balcony.

Common causes of confusion

The above story covers two of the most common causes for confusion, the balcony and the roof. Generally speaking, the rules are:

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 are 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.

Before buying into a strata building

If you are looking at investing in an apartment, check in with the building’s body corporate first to ask what the rules are around things like cracked tiles and leaking roofs.
If in Queensland, like many Blink landlord clients, ask about a building’s waterproofing. Before the 1980s, buildings weren’t required to have waterproofing and these can be vulnerable to costly water damage, so ask the strata if there is waterproofing and, if not, who pays for any damage.

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