Apartment building on land affected by owners corporation
Apartments constituting individual lots
Water ingress arising from areas of external balcony to an apartment
Quick Take
1Where a Victorian plan of subdivision states that boundaries defined by buildings are located at the 'interior face', that phrase refers to the interior face of the building itself — being the visible finished surface (such as tiles) — and not the face of the bare structural element (such as the concrete slab) beneath affixed layers; accordingly, layers of screed, waterproof membrane and tiles affixed to a structural slab that is expressly designated as common property are themselves common property, not lot property.
2Section 132 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic), which grants lot owners the right to decorate or attach fixtures to the interior face where it is the lot boundary, does not compel the conclusion that the interior face and materials between it and the structural element are lot property; if anything, the provision suggests the surface may not otherwise be lot property, as no statutory right would be needed if it were.
3Even where balcony floor components are common property, the costs of repair may potentially be allocated to the lot owner who benefits most under ss 24(2A), 49 and related provisions of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, and lot owners remain subject to obligations under ss 129 and 130 regarding care of lots and common property — the question of who owns the property does not necessarily determine who bears the full cost of repair.
