It is important for anyone buying into sectional title schemes to check how old the building is, and remember that there will always be things to fix in older buildings over time.
Michael Bauer, general manager of IHFM, says with many older building methods, foundations were often laid without enough drainage installed to divert groundwater or rainwater from the building or the problem could be that no damp barriers were installed to prevent rising damp. There weren’t many of the newer technologies available to builders 20 or more years ago and often apartment buildings or townhouses were built with the minimal amount of sealing done to the foundations or walls just below ground level. Nowadays, Bauer says if there is a chance of damp, the buildings’ foundations will have damp barrier plastic applied not only to the foundations but a layer between the foundations and the walls, to avoid any seepage or rising damp. In many cases, drainage pipes are installed, which then divert the water away from the building into the rainwater system. Unfortunately, in cases such as the one mentioned above, insurance won’t cover the damage because they see this as poor workmanship or a design flaw, so the repair will have to be paid for by the owner or the body corporate, depending on what the source of the damp is. If the problem is inside the median line, it would be the owner’s responsibility but if it’s outside, the body corporate would be responsible for the repair. In most cases, however, the body corporate would have to raise a special levy to carry out large projects so, indirectly, Bauer says, the owner still pays for the repairs to an extent. The first thing to do would be to establish the source of the damp, whether it is from groundwater or whether there is a leaking pipe within the construction or rainwater from blocked or broken gutters. If it is found that the moisture is seeping in from the ground, the solution could be the application of damp barrier plaster to the building, which has been proven to work, he says. In some cases, a silicone barrier is chosen and injected into the gaps in the walls to fill up any spaces where moisture might collect. However, this system’s application is expensive and time consuming. “It is important for anyone buying into sectional title schemes to check how old the building is, and remember that there will always be things to fix in older buildings over time. This is an unavoidable part of owning properties such as these. My advice would be to expect problems and, in this case particularly, it might need some compromise on the owner’s part, as he might not be able to get all the funds for the necessary repairs from the body corporate.”