Does your corporation have a maintenance and repair responsibilities table?
A maintenance and repair responsibilities table is a document which sets out what owners are responsible to maintain and repair after damage and what the Corporation is responsible for. Section 43 of the Condominium Act, 1998 provides a list of the documentation that is required to be turned over to the Corporation by the Declarant (the developer). One of those items is this maintenance and repair table.
We often find that this table is missing from the documents to be turned over by the Declarant and Corporations often don’t develop this table on their own. However, having a maintenance and repair table is important because it can be a helpful guide outlining the maintenance and repair responsibilities the owner and the Corporation. Being proactive and developing this table early on can help avoid issues down the road when owners learn that they were responsible to maintain an item which had resulted in damage to their unit.
The table is based on the maintenance and repair provisions in the Declaration. That is why maintenance and repair responsibilities will vary from one Corporation to the next. Although the Declaration will provide what portion of the units and common elements owners and the Corporation are required to maintain and repair, sometimes the wording is not clear-cut and in many cases the Declaration does not itemize and specifically allocate responsibility for every item. For example, Declarations won’t necessarily overtly indicate who is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the HVAC system, fireplaces and flues, pipes located within and outside the unit boundaries and components of windows and balcony doors.
Owners may fail to maintain their unit or a portion of the common elements (i.e. exclusive use) due to a lack of understanding as to the extent of their maintenance obligations. This can result in friction and disputes between owners and the Corporation. For example, what happens if owners do not maintain an item that they are responsible for, causing damage to other units or the common elements? Can the Corporation charge back owners the costs of the damage or the insurance deductible? The answer to these questions will depend on the circumstances but the maintenance and repair responsibilities chart can, at least, assist the parties with the interpretation of the Declaration. If owners are able to reference a chart outlining their responsibilities, Corporations can reduce the likelihood of headaches and legal battles over these issues.
If a Corporation has been provided with a maintenance and repair table from the Declarant, it should be reviewed to determine if it has listed all the items that the Corporation feels should be included and is accurate. Once finalized, the table should be distributed to the owners. If a Corporation does not have a table, it’s never too late to create one.
Although the table is not a binding document such as the Declaration, By-laws and Rules, it is a tool to assist owners and the Board in complying with their maintenance and repair responsibilities.
