The garage door is broken and needs replacing. I have the strata plan and it appears to be a solid line denoting the garage area. Who is responsible for paying for the door? – Angela, NSW

Q: Hello, I am asking on behalf of my parents (Vintage 1940 & 1945) who own an apartment within a complex constructed in 2000. There is a common building basement and individual garages with automatic doors to each garage. Their garage door is broken and needs replacing. I have the strata plan and it appears to be a solid line denoting their garage area.

Who is responsible for paying for the door? Many thanks for any advice as they have had quotes of $3,000 and are on the pension – hence, a costly bill if it’s actually not theirs to pay.

 

A: Generally, doors and windows are seen as part of the structure of the strata property. This means your owners corporation is responsible for overseeing its maintenance.

According to NSW Fair Trading, the garage door is part of the common property and thus its maintenance and repair is the responsibility of the owners corporation. However, it would be worth having this issue looked into further by either your strata manager or a strata committee member.