Management Fees+Repairs

sineadgalway

Folks,

Just got my 2012 bill for management fees for my apartment. Its €900 this year, up on last year.

My question is: there was a large expenditure on repairs to a flat roof this year, this has been included in the expenditure. I have lived here since the place was built and on several occasions have seen workmen on the flat roof.

If this is an ongoing problem are we the tenants liable for this expense or should the company be pursuing the builders?

Thanks!

Lantus

In most apartment blocks the roof is not owned by anyone but a shared liability between all the tenants and the OMC is responsible for the repair and upkeep.

I would write to the OMC and request more information on what the fault was, the cost and what the ongoing maintenance issues are. Flat roofs are notorious for leaks and ongoing repairs. Cheap to build and install but all the costs come later down the line for the owners.

The OMC SHOULD have a sinking fund to cover these costs and it should be clearly identified on the budget. By law they should be doing it under the MUD act. It's a totally seperate account to cover long term replacement issues like roofs or the lift etc.

The_Conductor

I beg to differ slightly on this one.
Regular repair to a roof- even if it is an ongoing issue- wouldn't necessarily be considered as a sink fund expense. Its simply an issue that occurs because of the design of the building.

Providing the building was built to PP, and was up to whatever the specs then were- its just another item of expenditure that the Management Company would detail in their annual accounts (repair work for lifts, hydraulic gates etc- would all be classified under current expenditure normally).

Perhaps some Management Companies do things differently- but your Management Company seem to be accounting for the repair work in a pretty normal manner in my experience.