If damage occurs after a tap water damage due to defective pipes in the apartment of an apartment owner, this must be paid jointly by all apartment owners. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in its ruling of September 16, 2022 - V ZR 69/21 V ZR 69/21. In the case in question, an owners' association had taken out building insurance for the special and common property. However, due to repeated incidents, this insurance only covers 25 percent of the damage.
Due to the increased deductible of the building insurance, a plaintiff now demanded, among other things, a different distribution of the deductible from the previous practice. Until now, the costs have been divided among the owners by an administrator according to the amount of the co-ownership shares. The plaintiff wanted to ensure that she no longer shared in the costs which, in her opinion, were incurred exclusively on the defendant's separate property.
The plaintiff was unsuccessful before the Federal Court of Justice and must bear its share of the costs. However, the BGH has referred one point back to the Court of Appeal. The court must now decide whether the distribution key can be changed in the future. According to the BGH, condominium owners' associations must pass resolutions jointly. In the present case, however, this could be an "unfair burden on the plaintiff" because the tap water damage occurred in the area of the residential units and not in her commercial unit.
Source: V ZR 69/21/bundesgerichtshof.de
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