Companies should be vigilant to ensure that all defects in the company title building are promptly repaired. A failure to carry out proper maintenance can result in the company being held liable in damages or being required to pay a statutory penalty.
Constitutional Responsibility
The company will often be constitutionally obliged to keep the common property in a reasonable state of repair. It will frequently be given a power to raise levies to establish a ‘sinking fund’ to finance its performance of that obligation.
The best way for the company to fulfill its responsibilities is to:
- Make sure that all levies are collected promptly and in full so as to ensure that the company has sufficient capital to carry out repairs.
- Regularly consider building maintenance issues at board meetings.
- Obtain annual maintenance reports from suitably qualified civil engineers.
- Be attentive to any complaints or reports about building safety matters made by residents.
General Law Duties
In addition to their duties under the constitution, companies have a number of general law duties which require the building to be kept in a satisfactory state of repair. They include:
- Work health and safety duties owed to contractors or employees engaged to carry out works on the building.
- The duty of care that the company owes to entrants as an occupier of the company property.
In addition, the company is required to ensure that it obtains an Annual Fire Statement each year. This may require works to be done on upgrading the company’s fire safety infrastructure.
If you’d like to speak to one of our experienced lawyers about the maintenance of your Company Title building, call us on (02) 9199 8597 or email us.
The information contained in this post is current at the date of editing – 27 August 2024.