corrosive liquids coming out of underground parking ceiling

bibi-phoque

Hello,
I have no idea where to start, so I am looking for some advices, or maybe shared experiences.
I am living in a complex with underground parking, the complex is quite recent (less than a year old). I usually park in a specific space in the underground parking but since last monday, this spot is busy so I used another spot.
Yesterday, I realised that were some funny drops on my car and went to wash it. Whatever dropped on the car actually removed the paint! Because it must have been more than a single drop, this liquid went on the side on the car and you can really see it. This corrosive liquid actually removed the metallic paint.
I went back to the underground parking and saw that there was a pipe (for the rain) over my parking spot. it must have been leaking. I can see some black spot on the bitume(it's not oil). I then looked around in other parking space and saw more leak (sometime between 2 peace of ceiling concrete). In one place, you can actually see white Stalactites coming out the ceiling, like if you were in a cave!

I'm not sure what to do now. I want the paint to be fixed, but who will pay?
Is the management company responsible for whatever is falling from the underground parking ceiling? I'm afraid they will say "You park at your own risk"...

If they are not helpful, is it something I can bring to court?
The car is worth 30k€, and a paint job would cost a few k€...

Any advices or previous experiences would be appreciated...

Thanks,
Yann

Jo King

Have you comprehensive insurance? If so you should contact your insurance broker. Your insurance company may be willing to pursue a third-party claim against the management company.
You need to collect as much of a sample of the substance as you can. You should also take photographs, of your car and of the ceiling.
It is better if you have an independent professional, such as an engineer familiar with litigation, do the above.
When you have done this, contact the management company!

Paulw

Contact the management company. They may actually need to involve the developer, or whoever painted the area. The paint may be actually the wrong paint, so they would be liable.

Of course, taking action against the management company may be somewhat counter productive. You see, if you do win your case (if you take one), then obviously your own management fees will have to increase (as will everyone elses) to pay for your case.

Sometimes it's much better to work with the management company, than against it.

Of course, your vehicle insurance may cover any costs too, as pointed out above.

Best of luck with it.

bibi-phoque

Thanks for the replies.
It's not paint coming out of the ceiling, it's a liquid but I don't know what it is.
I will take pictures of both the car and the holes in the ceiling, try to collect samples and contact the management company.

Any idea where I could go to analyze the samples?

Thanks,
Yann

How Strange

contact the management company in writing, send it by registered mail and keep a copy of the correspondence and receipt for reg post.
Now they have been put on notice that there is a problem in the car park and if they fail to act on it in good time then they are negligent.

Take pictures and contact your insurance company who will then seek to recover the costs of the repainting from the management company.

That's all you can do. Don't bother involving independent parties or sending samples to be analyzed. That's not your job; the most important thing is to inform the MC asap so they can do something about it. It is a common area so it is solely their responsibility.

bibi-phoque

Hi again,
I contacted the builders and came today. They told me that the white liquid falling of the ceiling is lime (from the ciment). Lime is very bad for your car paint as it is corrosive and eats the paint, especially if not removed quickly. The good news is that a good polish will help repair this (even if the paint is gone). So, I'm feeling much better.

However, I'm not happy with the builder's reaction, they are just going to fill one hole (the one above my car) when in fact the whole ceiling should be filled! Lime is coming out everywhere and there is no way I will park there again until it is fixed. The management company is trying to get everyone to park in there (they don't want people parking on the road) so I'm hoping that they will convince the builder to repair the whole ceiling.

Thanks for all the replies.

Yann