It Comes Down to One Word: Ownership
Here is something most apartment buyers never read closely enough - the strata plan. It draws a line through your building and decides, legally, what is yours to deal with and what the body corporate has to manage. Your side of that line is called the lot. Their side is common property, and it covers everything from the corridor carpet to the pipes running through the walls that nobody ever sees.
The pipes in your building sit on one side of that line or the other. Consumer Affairs Victoria is clear that owners corporations carry the responsibility for maintaining and repairing common property, and that includes the main water supply lines running through shared walls and building risers. So if a riser that serves twelve floors gives way inside a shared wall cavity, that repair belongs to the body corporate, full stop.
The moment a pipe exists purely to service your unit and nobody else's, it becomes your responsibility. Your hot water pipes, your tap fittings, and the braided flexi hoses under your sink and behind your toilet are all on you.
Those Little Hoses Cause Enormous Damage
Flexi hoses are worth discussing because a lot of people have no idea how dangerous they can be. They are the short corrugated connectors tucked out of sight under bathroom vanities and kitchen sinks. Most people never look at them, and some have been sitting there for fifteen or twenty years, slowly degrading.
When one fails, and they do fail, it does not drip. It gushes hundreds of litres per hour, sometimes through the night. The Victorian Building Authority requires plumbing work on these fittings to be done by a licensed plumber, which makes sense given what a failed hose can do to an apartment and everything below it.
Because flexi hoses serve only your lot, their failure sits entirely with you. The body corporate will not cover it. If the water reaches your neighbour downstairs, your home and contents insurance is going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Get your flexi hoses checked before something goes wrong. The team at Ezy-Plumb can inspect them and give you a straight answer on their condition, with upfront pricing and no surprises. Call 0402 169 096.
When the Body Corporate Digs Its Heels In
Bodies Corporate tends to move slowly at the best of times. Add a water leak with an unclear origin, and things can stall quickly. A multi-storey building has a lot of places for water to travel before it shows up somewhere visible, and working out whether the source is common property or somebody’s internal plumbing is not always a fast process. That uncertainty gives everyone an excuse to wait.
The Strata Community Association Australia recommends getting everything in writing from the start. Photograph the damage, write to the owners corporation formally, and keep every reply. If they refuse to act on something that falls under common property, VCAT is the avenue to pursue in Victoria, and it exists precisely for this kind of dispute.
Do not just call and leave a voicemail. Put it in writing, because it matters later.
What You Should Do Right Now
For an owner or renter, the approach is the same. Find out where your lot boundary sits, report any water damage as soon as you spot it, and do not wait around assuming someone else has already made the call.
Tenants should go to their landlord or property manager. Owners should go to the body corporate and, depending on where the problem sits, may also need to call their own plumber.
Can’t figure out where the leak is coming from? Ezy-Plumb will locate it quickly without tearing your walls apart.
FAQs
Q: Who pays for a burst pipe in an apartment?
Ans: It depends. If the pipe is inside your lot, it is your cost. If it runs through common property, the body corporate wears it.
Q: What is common property in a strata building?
Ans: Anything the whole building shares. Think corridors, structural walls, and the water lines running through spaces that no individual owner controls.
Q: Are flexi hoses my responsibility as a lot owner?
Ans: Yes, flexi hoses serve only your unit, so they are entirely your problem.
Q: What if the body corporate refuses to act?
Ans: Document everything in writing and escalate through VCAT in Victoria.
Q: Does my home insurance cover burst pipe damage?
Ans: It can, especially if the source is within your lot or a neighbour’s unit.
