The suite is the owner's. The pipes behind the wall, the window and the elevator often are not. We sort out which before booking a trade.
A condo suite repair looks like any apartment repair until the trade needs the water off, a part carried up 30 floors, or a hole cut in a wall that belongs to the corporation. For how a rented unit sits between the owner, the tenant and the corporation, see condo rentals.
The declaration and the description registered with it draw the unit boundary. The line usually falls like this:
When the corporation repairs a unit after damage, it restores it to the standard unit for that class, not to what the owner installed later (section 89). Engineered hardwood over the builder's carpet, a custom vanity, pot lights: those are improvements, and after a flood they are usually the owner's to replace. We photograph finishes before work starts so the insurer can separate the two.
Many suites have no shut off of their own, or one hidden behind an access panel in a closet. A riser shut off drains several floors and needs notice to the other suites. We confirm the shut off point and the window with management before the plumber is booked, not while the plumber waits in the lobby.
The service elevator booked and padded, the loading dock slot, trade parking, measurements checked against the old unit, and the old appliance hauled away the same visit. See appliance installation.
Moving a dryer vent through an exterior wall, adding a bathroom fan duct or replacing a window can touch the common elements. An owner can only make that change with a board resolution and a written agreement with the corporation on cost, upkeep and insurance (section 98). We flag the job and stop until that is in place.
If an owner lets the unit slide and the condition risks damage or injury, the corporation can do the work itself and add the cost to that unit's common expenses (section 92). A leaking supply line fixed on your schedule costs less than one fixed on the board's.
Often the owner. The corporation's duty to repair after damage does not cover improvements to a unit, and what counts as an improvement is measured against the standard unit for that class of unit. The declaration can also move the repair itself to the owner.
Check the declaration first. Windows are often part of the common elements, and an owner can only alter the common elements with a board resolution and a written agreement with the corporation under section 98 of the Condominium Act.
If the owner fails to maintain the unit within a reasonable time and the failure risks damage to the property or injury, section 92 lets the corporation do the work and add the cost to the unit's common expenses.
The management office takes the booking under the building's rules. We make the booking and send the trade's details and any certificate management asks for before the day of the job.
Plumbing, electrical, major appliance and heating or cooling failures, lockouts, and a door that will not lock. These are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone and text. This website is not an emergency line.
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Give us the unit number and the management office's contact, and we book the building before we book the trade.
