One of our complexes had problems with roof leaks and damage to the inside of units. The insurance company rejected the insurance claims stating that no maintenance was done to the roofs. The Trustees are adamant that the inside of the unit is the owner’s responsibility – how do we deal with this?
The STSM Act states the following –
Functions of bodies corporate
- (1) A body corporate must perform the functions entrusted to it by or under this Act or the rules, and such functions include—
(l) to maintain all the common property and to keep it in a state of good and serviceable repair;
And it also states the following –
- 13 (1) An owner must—
(c)repair and maintain his or her section in a state of good repair and, in respect of an exclusive use area, keep it in a clean and neat condition;
The difference comes in where the cause of the damage to the section is coming from common property. Like in this case the roofs not being maintained.
So the Body Corporate is definitely in this case responsible for the damage to the inside of the units.