Leaking balcony repair Sydney: work out who is responsible before you book anyone

Start by finding out who is responsible

Before you ring a tradesperson about water coming through or around your balcony, check whether the leaking part belongs to you or to the building. In an apartment block that question is often the whole game. The NSW Government explains that the owners corporation is responsible for maintaining and repairing common property, while owners repair anything inside their own property.

The same NSW page includes balconies and balcony doors in its list of repair items, and it also lists water damage coming from common property. That does not settle every case, because a balcony can be partly one and partly the other depending on how the scheme is set up. If you cannot tell, the NSW Government points owners to their strata plan and by-laws for the answer.

It is worth doing this on paper rather than by assumption. Take photos of the staining or drips, note when they appear (after rain, or all the time), and send a written request to the strata manager if there is any chance the cause sits in common property.

Why you cannot just book a quick fix in a unit

It is tempting to treat a leak as a small job you can organise yourself. The NSW strata renovation rules draw a line here: minor renovations cannot change the outside or structure of a strata property or require waterproofing. So if the repair involves waterproofing, you should not assume it is something you can simply go ahead with.

The NSW Government also advises checking your scheme's by-laws before starting any renovation so you know what approvals are needed. For a balcony that leaks, a short conversation with the committee or manager at the start usually saves a messy dispute later.

The licence line you should know about

The NSW Government describes waterproofing as any protective treatment of a home to stop water or moisture getting into it, and it says you must hold a licence or certificate to do waterproofing work. For residential building or trade work, including waterproofing, a contractor licence is needed once the job is valued at more than $5000 in labour and materials, GST included.

The penalties for ignoring this are steep. Under the Home Building Act 1989, the NSW Government says an individual can be fined $22,000 and a company $110,000 for unlicensed work. Ask anyone quoting on your balcony for their licence details and check them yourself with NSW Fair Trading before you agree to anything.

Apartment buildings and newer buildings have extra rules

If your balcony is part of an apartment building, the repair may fall under extra regulation. The NSW Government says remedial building work for class 2 buildings is regulated under the design and building practitioners legislation. It adds that waterproofing is not always excluded from being building work under that Act, and that it is only excluded if it meets certain criteria. As an example of non-emergency remedial work, it gives a damaged waterproofing membrane on the roof of a residential apartment building. That example is a roof rather than a balcony, but it shows how seriously membrane repairs are treated.

For newer strata buildings there is another avenue. Under the Strata Building Bond and Inspections Scheme, developers lodge a bond of 2% of the contract price, and the NSW Government says it may be used to rectify defects found in the scheme's inspections. It also says defective work identified in the interim report should be fixed by the time of the final inspection. If your building is recent and the balcony leak looks like a construction fault, ask your strata manager whether the building is in that scheme.

The scheme also affects access. At the final inspection stage, the NSW Government says at least 14 days written notice must be given to the owners corporation and any owner or occupier when entry is needed to a lot or common property, such as a unit and balcony. Expect some lead time rather than an instant visit.