Publishing Date; Thursday the 27th day of March 2025.

 

Q I recently purchased the ground floor apartment in a MUD in Dublin (with very expensive management fees) and for the second time in a year there is water damage on my ceiling. Plumbers who have attended on both occasions advised me in person tenants were leaving the bathroom blocked and overflowing and generally the place in a state. However both my management company and the upstairs tenants letting agent/landlord both say as no “active” leak has been identified they don’t accept any liability for the damage (although the neighbours landlord has offered to pay 50percent of the paint fee). They have both suggested in the absence of an active leak present (although an explanation provided) the damage could be coming from another property or communal pipe but provided no evidence of same.  I have had lots of very frustrating correspondence with both property firms (samples below) I am not sure at this stage if it is worth hiring an independent plumber to complete a report and whether they would be able to inspect any pipework outside my property or at this stage I should seek legal advice. Also is there a complaints body for a management company.

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A. Dealing with numerous individuals can be challenging and frustrating. It is important to approach this with a diplomatic finesse, if you overreact or lose patience, you risk irreparably damaging the relationships. If you escalate matters through legal channels, the rapport with your OMC agent and the property owner, their occupants and their agent will sour. You will have to coexist with the occupants for the duration of their tenancy and engage with the OMC agent, so it is important to keep those relationships amicable. If there is a problem (the ceiling staining) and they are responding to it (independent plumbers report provided to you), it would be deemed to be responsible action.  

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I have had sight of some of the correspondence provided from you only and not from any of the other parties. A report, dated February 17th, provided by one of the plumbers who attended does state that there was a block in the bathroom of the property above yours and it was then cleared. It indicates that there was a problem and that it was resolved. As correspondence states that there is no current leak, there is nothing to review currently. Retain of copy of this for your records for future reference if required.

Water can travel in mysterious ways and not always in a straight line. Staining on a ceiling indicates where the water is presenting, at the lowest point on the run, and may not be the exact source. For this reason, many insurance policies will allow trace and access to facilitate the process of opening up walls, ceilings or floors and tracking back to the leak source. The block policy will be held in the name of your owners’ management company (OMC).

 

The block managing agent would be the point of contact for this as they are the OMC representative. It would be a worthy exercise to notify the agent of your intention to investigate the source of the leak with their assistance should the event occur again and the source cannot be easily identified.

The Property Services Regulatory Authority is the body that regulates property service providers. Agents that provide block management services do so under a D licence. Further information on complaints can be obtained from their website www.psr.ie

 

Paul Huberman FSCSI FRICS is a chartered property and facilities manager, and a Fellow of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. 

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Author: Paul Huberman of H&H Property Management Consultants Ltd

Publish Date: 27/03/2025