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PROPERTY NT BUSINESS REVIEW

Carlos puts the wind up Darwin

FORTUNATELY, there were no

deaths from Cyclone Carlos.

Trees fell down and there was

plenty of minor to mid-range

damage. The biggest problem

was the volume of rain — 700mm

in less than a week, about half of

Victoria’s annual average rain-

fall.

What does this mean for you,

your body corporate and invest-

ment?

Body corporates are not there

to service extraordinary events

from the sinking fund but do have

insurance to cover these events

and damage that occurs. The body

corporate should always have a

sinking fund to cover major capi-

tal works, such as painting every

8-10 years, replacing lift motors,

driveways and roofs.

Even though a building is

maintained in a reasonable con-

dition, events such as Cyclone

Carlos will test any residential

or commercial building — and

willpower of everyone involved.

Leaks will occur where leaks

have never occurred before.

Most of this can be associated

with capillary action of both

wind and rain being forced into

crevices, roof flashings and other

openings. When the architects,

builders and developers finish

building, it is important to note

that they build to the code and

building regulations. But all this

design is theoretical and it is put

to the test in these events.

Well-maintained buildings will

include annual inspections of the

roof and gutters to ensure leaves

and debris on a

roof are removed.

Gutter guards are,

generally speak-

ing, not satisfac-

tory because they

also prohibit the

flow of water and

sometimes block

up with leaves.

Trees and

shrubs should

also be trimmed

to minimise the

amount of debris

that is deposited

on to roofs and gutters. As men-

tioned earlier, buildings should

be painted once every 8-10 years

and, where possible, waterproof-

ing membranes checked.

Owners have to be aware that

when they buy a building they

are buying the air space within

the cubic space, but they are also

responsible for their own main-

tenance on balconies that fall

within the border of the unit as

prescribed by the unit plan for

the corporation.

Waterproofing products may

break down over time and should

be inspected periodically.

Events such as Cyclone Carlos

create much angst. The rule of

thumb is, don’t panic — you are

not the only one affected by this.

The magnitude of the event

has sometimes created a problem

that previously remained uniden-

tified or unknown to the owner,

body corporate and/or manager.

The other thing to take note

of is that while it has leaked in

this event it may not leak again

until similar conditions are ex-

perienced. If this was a once in

a 100-year storm, it may be that

this leak won’t occur again for

long time.

In the event of a claim, owners

need to know what are the typical

types of the most common insur-

ance.

Insurance companies offer

three main separate products.

The first is building insurance.

Ensure that you have the correct

valuation for your building needs.

Undervalued building may have

claims reduced.

This policy covers everything

that is fixed or permanently in-

stalled, such as air conditioners

and stoves, but excludes carpets,

drapes and light fittings.

It also includes a component

of public liability for body corpo-

rates.

The second type of insurance

is contents insurance. It cov-

ers all personal effects, such as

carpets drapes and white goods.

Even though you have rented

your unit, you may still need con-

tents insurance to cover carpets

and drapes.

For investors, the final insur-

ance is landlord protection. It

may incorporate contents in-

surance. This protects inves-

tors from public liability issues

within the units, tenant damage

and loss of rent should the ten-

ant abscond or the

premises become

uninhabitable due

to the storm event.

In the event of

making a claim,

note that it helps to

be patient. You can

help your property

managers and in-

surers by obtaining

quotes for the repair

works and taking

photos of the dam-

age. Sometimes well

documented claims

complete with photos minimise

the need for insurance assessors

to attend, which reduces waiting

times.

Cyclone Carlos was minor

compared with Cyclone Yasi.

The unusual aspect was that a

slow-moving system produced an

enormous amount of rain, which

was driven by wind.

Many buildings and houses

were affected, mostly by water

damage; some of this damage

was the direct result of the limi-

tations in both product and de-

sign when it tested by a storm of

this magnitude.

To minimise this, owners

should organise a maintenance

program every year.

Picture: MICHAEL FRANCHI

Owners should

organise a

maintenace

program every

year

Waterproofing

products may break

down and should be

inspected periodically

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