Good Governance

Water leaks:

Are you still under warranty?

With all the recent rain we’ve had you may have discovered water leaks that you’ve never seen before. Or perhaps there has been an annoying reemergence of old leaks that you thought were fi xed. A professional project manager is the key to a managing a successful warranty claim for your leaks.

An eff ective project manager does not just do an inspection of the leaks to prepare a remedial scope of works, but they ensure the body corporate has a reliable warranty on fi le for any relevant works. That is to say, the project manager checks to see if a warranty is still on foot and claimable.

What is a warranty?

Leaks into habitable areas are considered a structural or major defect and claimable under the warranty.

There are two common types of warranties relevant to capital upgrade works on common property that the building owner will be able to draw upon in the event of a leak. Statutory warranties: These include the mandatory warranty under the builder or trade contractor license.

Voluntary warranties: These include extended warranties, usually off ered by materials suppliers.

Lynda Kypriadakis,

Diverse FMX

These statutory and voluntary warranties apply to both the supplier (of the materials, plant and/or equipment) and the contractor (for workmanship).

It is important to obtain warranty certifi cates whenever works are done on common property and for the committ ee to keep these warranties on fi le until they expire.

What warranty should we have?

When your building is experiencing water leaks your project manager will fi rst check to see if any warranties apply. If your building is new and still within the defect liability period aft er construction, there will be a claim to be made under the builder warranty. If it is an older building but there has been a re-roof project, or waterproof membrane or roof repairs and they are now leaking, there may be a claim under the trade contractor’s statutory warranty. If the building is outside the defect liability period for either original construction work or any retrospective trade contractor repairs or upgrades, then the repairs are unlikely to fall to any warranty.

Roof or waterproof membrane leaks

The fi rst step for repairing roof leaks is to determine if the roof is still under warranty. If not, your project manager will follow these steps: • Investigate exact cause of the leak (this may require invasive surveying of the roof, ceiling space and removal of roof sheets, and insulation).

• Prepare a remedial scope of works for tendering. • Obtain ‘apples-for-apples’ quotes from trade contractors (make sure the trade contractors are suitably qualifi ed, licensed and willing to provide a warranty certifi cate for the work).

• Vote on repair works and go to contract. • Obtain a warranty for the repair works upon completion.

Window or door leaks

If water is coming in via windows or doors (or any other point of ingress) the same process applies as roof leaks in gett ing the leak fi xed.

How long should a warranty be?

All structural works, including waterproof membranes, roof and windows/doors are warranted for six years and six months under the QBCC statutory builder’s warranty in Queensland. Check with your state-specifi c building industry regulator for details outside Queensland.

A sub-contractor’s warranty is required for any works done by the trade contractor, for example, waterproofi ng. The waterproof membrane applicator should be providing you with a workmanship warranty for the waterproofi ng work. A great project manager will ensure the best warranties available are provided to the body corporate at the end of the works. It is the project manager’s role to ensure these warranties are harvested and passed on to the body corporate prior to release of fi nal payment for the works. The supplier’s warranty is a voluntary product warranty off ered by the supplier or manufacturer, generally applied in accordance with consumer legislation. Again, an excellent project manager will only include fully warranted products in their tender scope/ specifi cation and ensure supplier warranty certifi cates are harvested for the best interests of the body corporate.

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Is there an exemption for severe weather events under the trade contractor warranty?

Sometimes weather events are so severe that they void a ‘normal’ trade contractor warranty. For example, a catastrophic fl ood or cyclone. It is not likely that a roof or window warranty will be upheld if the building is fl att ened by a cyclone. The best way to discover if the trade contractor warranty is voided due to a severe weather event is via consultation with the building insurer. If the insurer believes the construction element (roof or window for instance) should have performed and stayed watertight during the weather event, then any claim will go to the trade contractor, if still within the warranty period. If the trade contractor states that the construction element was unable to perform because the weather conditions were extreme, and outside ‘normal’ weather tolerances, then it becomes a bit more complicated, and the building owner will need to get professional and legal advice on claim options.