Last night my neighbour had a party during which her guests extensively damaged our building's front foyer. The estimated cost of repair is around $10,000 and it has come to my notice that the owners’ corporation will be paying for this damage. Why do we have to pay for this damage?
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Answer by Neha Sharma, Hillsdale 2036 Sydney
- As a general rule the owners’ corporation must repair all damage (whether accidental or negligent) to the common property.
- This is because under the law an owners’ corporation must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property in a strata scheme.
- The owners’ corporation must also repair the damage as soon as possible to mitigate any potential insurance claims from accidents such as someone tripping over the damaged part of the front foyer and injuring themselves.
- The owners’ corporation can take legal action against the responsible owner to recover the costs of repair. The recovered money will be put back into the strata scheme's trust fund for future use.