Section 37(1 )(j) of the Act requires the body corporate to maintain the common property and keep it in a good state of repair. In addition to the land on which the scheme is situated, the common property includes the outer half of outside walls, the foundations, the roof, and the space between the upper ceilings and the roof. Buildings and parts of buildings that are intended for common use also form part of the common property. This means that a leaking roof, cracked outer wall or damaged foundation has to be repaired by the body corporate and not by an individual owner. An owner on the ground floor has to pay as much towards a roof repair as the unfortunate person on the top floor on whose head the raindrops keep falling! The only exception to this is that the hot water system is the responsibility of the owner of the section or sections served by the installation even though part of the installation may be situated on the common property.

 

Subject to restrictions imposed under section 39(1), all common property maintenance and repairs can be authorised by the trustees without reference to the body corporate, even if it involves raising a special levy to pay for the repairs or essential maintenance. They may not however authorise improvements to the common property without following the procedures prescribed in management rule 33.

Internal repairs and maintenance within a section are the responsibility of the owner of the section. Should the owner fail to carry out essential maintenance to his or her section, management rule 70 allows the body corporate to arrange for the work to be done, in which case the costs of repair will be recovered from the owner of the section. If an owner's section suffers damage as a result of a common property defect, the owner is entitled to claim the cost of repairs from the body corporate.