Pamela Skittrup's plans to return to India where family is waiting for the 83-year-old cancer patient, have been scuppered by an apartment leak that remains unfixed after two years. Photo / Mike Scott
Pamela Skittrup's plans to return to India where family is waiting for the 83-year-old cancer patient, have been scuppered by an apartment leak that remains unfixed after two years. Photo / Mike Scott
Pamela Skittrup is at her wits' end after trying to get a leak in her apartment balcony fixed for the past two years.
The 83-year-old Hamilton woman has taken legal action and been to the Tenancy Tribunal after she discovered the leak while selling the central city apartment in July 2020.
The building's body corporate says it is doing everything it can to repair the leak affecting the first-floor unit at Riverview Apartments.
But Skittrup, a recent cancer patient, said she has been forced to put on hold her plans to move back to India where her late husband's family is waiting to take care of her.
In November the property manager advised repairs to a spandrel did not fix the leak and there were plans to test the waterproofing for the tiles of the upstairs balcony.
In November the manager told Gibbons the testing was complete but there was no response from Skittrup and three days later it said a hole would be cut in the external wall so it could be inspected with a borescope.
Gibbons replied that Skittrup was not satisfied with the progress and requested certain steps be taken within 10 days or the matter would be progressed to the Tenancy Tribunal, which covers unit titles.
The property manager said the cause of the leak needed to be established before it could be repaired and further testing showed water leaking inside the parapet wall, thought to be from leaking flashing.
The leak in the ceiling above Skittrup's apartment balcony can be seen when ceiling panels are removed. Photo / Mike Scott
Options for repair were included but the work would not happen before Christmas.
Gibbons applied to the tribunal in April 2021 seeking work orders, and a hearing was set down for July 29.
Six days before that Skittrup was given a report from Waikato Building Surveyors showing the leak was coming from a fractured weld on the parapet cap flashing for the unit above, and recommendations for repair included addressing the failing waterproofing membrane on the floor of the upstairs balcony.
At the hearing it was agreed the body corporate should proceed with the work and the hearing was adjourned for three months to allow that.
The body corporate engaged building contractor Forster Maintain to do the work but Forster Maintain determined there was a cheaper alternative that involved installing a new, custom stainless steel flashing over the existing flashing, costing $5950 plus GST.
Skittrup said that repair, just before Christmas last year, made the leak worse.
The Body Corporate returned to Waikato Building Surveyors [WBS] who quoted $33,000 to fix the leak and the work was approved on March 9.
Pooling water caused by the leak led to Skittrup slipping over and injuring herself. Photo / Mike Scott
The case went back to the tribunal where Gibbons said in written submissions that it took seven months to do limited work that did not resolve the issue and Skittrup sought revised orders including that the repair be completed within two months.
He also sought costs for Skittrup's legal fees of almost $23,000 plus GST and the tribunal application fee of $3300, as well as $5000 for stress and inconvenience caused by the delays.
A lawyer for the body corporate argued the work now exceeded the $50,000 jurisdictional limit of the tribunal after a new quote from Forster Maintain put the repair - including addressing external cladding - at more than $200,000.
The lawyer said the body corporate had faced delays because of an ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, and that it was not reasonable to complete the building works in two months.
Adjudicator Rex Woodhouse said the claim could be considered by the tribunal because the quote from WBS included work to address the leak and therefore fell within the tribunal's jurisdiction.
However, he said the body corporate was not in breach of its duty because it had not "sat on its hands", but had made efforts to identify the source of the leak and fix it.
Woodhouse dismissed the application for a work order, damages and weekly progress updates. Because the application was unsuccessful costs could not be ordered.
Gibbons said it was unfortunate the tribunal did not place a timeframe on the work through an order.
Riverview Apartments body corporate chairman Greg Carstens says no other apartments in the building have leaks. Photo / Mike Scott
Body corporate chairman Greg Carstens said the circumstances behind the delay were traversed in the tribunal decision and its efforts to repair the leak would "continue as a priority".
"I am personally very sympathetic to Ms Skittrup's situation and the frustrations she has experienced.
"The body corporate committee has collectively and individually expressed our sincere apologies for the time taken to resolve this issue."
However, Skittrup said only one member of the committee had personally inspected the leak and she was now so "stressed out" by the situation she kept her drapes closed so she could not see the balcony.
She was worried the leak would spread to the ceiling inside her apartment if it was not fixed soon.
