Who’s responsible for what when it comes to maintaining your unit and building? It’s an important question, now that our buildings are getting older, and often asked by residents.
But the answer is sometimes more complicated than you’d think.
Generally, the association is responsible for repairing or replacing common, or shared,
elements and owners are responsible for maintaining their own unit. But there are two
problems. First, some areas are neither common elements nor part of your unit. These
are called limited [use] common elements and they’re available only to one or a few residents,
for example your patio or porch. Who is responsible for these? Second,
ownership and responsibility for repair and replacement are not necessarily the same
thing. So, sometimes
it gets confusing.
To help simplify the question of responsibility for repair and control costs to the
association, the Board has recently elected to strictly enforce the provisions set forth in
our governing documents. The association will adhere to the Chart of Maintenance
Responsibility located
in Exhibit B of the Bylaws and abide by the explanation of liability
as provided in the Maryland Condominium Act and the Queen’s Landing Bylaws. For
example, Section Three of our Bylaws specifies that the association is not responsible
for damage caused to a unit as the result of water, ice, or snow intrusion or any element
that flows across the common element of the building, in other words the outside walls
and roof.
As mentioned above, the Queen’s Landing Chart of Maintenance Responsibility (Exhibit
B) is located in the appendix section of the Bylaws and indicates who is responsible for
what. In an attempt to make the chart a little easier to understand,
an ‘Expanded’ Exhibit
B chart has also been included with a more descriptive list
of major and individual
components. The Expanded chart also includes columns labeled “association
responsibility” and “unit owner responsibility” with a simple
X marked in one of the
columns designating responsibility.
While the expanded chart is fairly comprehensive, not all components or areas of
responsibility are listed so you may still have questions. If you do, please check with the
general manager or a board member for clarification. It could have been overlooked at
the time the documents were prepared, or perhaps it was recently added. The board will
pass a clarifying resolution assigning responsibility for any items that need to be
included.
It might save a telephone call if you check the responsibility chart first, but if there are
any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. |
