It is not always so easy to know what the body corporate is responsible for or not.
For example, some experts feel that while the line goes through the middle of the garage door, the mechanism that is clearly inside the garage is part of the door and the cost of repair of this part of the door should be shared by the body corporate.
My feeling is that because it clearly lies within the unit and as only the unit owner (tenant) has full use of it, they should be responsible for the repairs of this part of the door.
The body corporate is responsible for the box of the units outside.
So, if damp comes through the wall from the outside and causes problems inside the unit, then the body corporate would have to sort the problem.
Owners and tenants need to report problems to the body corporate – for example, roof leaks, and not leave these faults until they become a real problem.
In that case the owner must repair the problem not the body corporate, or at the very least the body corporate can do the repair and claim the additional cost from the owner of that unit.
This is on the principle that the body corporate cannot be expected to cover the cost of a major repair over a minor one because the owner (tenant) did not report the problem in time.
It is also important for body corporates to understand that any repairs that they do must be normal acceptable repairs.
The body corporate cannot be expected to buy the best and most modern pool cleaner when a normal creepy would do a very adequate job.
Lastly, owners must realise that they cannot just do repairs without first getting approval from the body corporate.
For example, an owner cannot replace a garage door and recover half the door costs from the members of the body corporate because he decided the door was old and should be replaced, especially if he changes it from an opening door to a roller door.
The body corporate decides when things need to be repaired or replaced.
- Mike Spencer is the founder and owner of Platinum Global. He is also a professional associated property valuer and consultant with work across the country as well as Eastern Europe and Australia.