Is the replacement of a snapped spring and hinge bolt attached to the original tilt garage door a body corporate expense? – Tim, QLD

Q: Is the replacement of a snapped spring and hinge bolt attached to the original tilt garage door on a BUF plan in Qld a body corporate expense? (the building is older style 2 level units – garages on the bottom level and units above).

I asked the body corporate manager if replacement cost was a body corporate cost. They said yes, and they organised to get fixed. I agreed.

A year later (Oct 2021) I get told that the cost of $165 is really an owners cost due to the spring/hinge bolt mechanism being considered within the lot boundary and therefore the owners responsibility. I said no, body corporate ok’d the repair on the basis it was a common property cost. I said the spring/bolt is deemed a fitting on the garage door and therefore common property.

The body coporate manager said the garage door itself is considered to form part of the building but not the mechanism, similar to the locking mechanism on entry doors; the doors themselves are common property but the lock and closer are owners responsibility. I haven’t responded to body corporate manager yet.

Can you assist in clarifying this aspect regarding the replacement of garage door spring/hinge bolt.

 

A: It will be best to check your building format plan/body corporate plan. This document may show you which parts of the garage door and its mechanisms are your responsibility to maintain/repair and which areas are body corporate responsibility.

According to Queensland’s government laws, the body corporate is responsible for maintaining any windows or doors and their fittings in a boundary wall between a lot and the common property which includes garage doors and their fittings.