Hi there,

I’m wondering if you face this problem before?
[attachmentid=6655425]
[attachmentid=6655429]

1. there's an unit above you
2. bathroom ceiling has water stains
3. painted and cleaned it with cloth, but the watermark comes back after 1-2 days.

tq very much for your input

Waterproofing failed

Hopefully still under dlp

I guess that plaster ceiling is by you to cover the water trap from the unit above. Perhaps it is leaking there as the cover is not tightened up properly

bocor liao. redo proofing on top floor bathroom obviously the only fix.

thanks a lot guys! lodged an official complain to the developer. Hope they’ll be able to rectify it

if it is on the edges only, usually it means water proofing not done right on the unit upstairs.

water proofing usually have to cover the floor and also like 10cm on all the side wall to prevent leakage.

New condo then complaints to developer. Old condo then complaint to management.

u must repair the piping above, after that, let the stain dry completely.. use white spray can, just spray to the stain, and after dry, u just cover with normal paint.. it should be good and even

Owner of above unit has fixed the leaking issue, however, by law can I demand that he fix the watermark stains and fix the damaged ceiling fan, caused by the leakage?

you want to sue them if they don't fix it?
all i know is, condo management wont help you to settle, they'll ask you both to discuss and settle.

I'm just wondering why leak till ceiling fan? your toilet got ceiling fan?
coz typically piping won't be installed so near fan.

I hope the developer will not drag their feet to settle the problem.

Some takes months to rectify becoz of red tape.

If the unit above don't want to fix it then you would need to build a case against the unit above and this may eventually go as high as the High Court. Have a lot of patience.
1st - report to the building management of the case. They will come and inspect your unit of the damages and then ascertain what is the problem. If they agree that it may come from above unit then they will need to contact the owner to do the necessary. At this juncture, your building management need to prepare Form 28. (The many documents from this juncture)

If owner acknowledge the problem and fix then all done here. If not then building management need to give them official notice and proof that the issues originate from them. Probably they need to do this once or twice. it may help if all the expectations for repairs, response to communications have a timeline and done officially. Leaving it open ended will not help.

If owner still don't want to do then building management will need to submit report to DBKL and DBKL will issue notice to owner.

If no again then the case can be escalated to the Tribunal Courts. Pay attention to the evidence or documentation that you would need to do else you may lose your case just because of technicalities. At this stage if the award is in your favor and the owner refuse to honor the award then the penalty itself is RM50k and they still have to fix your problem at their cost. Hopefully all is settled here else it is High Court.

There is a formal process to do this ... just that it is long and the key player is your building management. If your building management is not cooperative, likely they don't want the hassle or don't know this process. Well, if the building management refuse to help you then please have the official refusal recorded and they will be part of the defending party that you can sue in court. Key here is evidence ... emails, communications, pictures, etc. if you are weak in building your case then the outcome won't be in your favor. Build your case objectively via concrete evidence / science and not through weak claims which will be thrown out of the courts within minutes you are granted. a hearing.

The above is not particularly in detail but just to give you an idea of the overall process.

This post has been edited by hye: Sep 29 2021, 10:12 AM

The law only says the owner of the unit above has to fixed the leak. If he refuses to pay for damage to your property you can bring a civil case against him. I doubt the building management or town council wants to get involved. In a court or tribunal everything will hinge on whether he repaired the leak within a reasonable time frame. If he has not delayed repairs unreasonably you have no case as the leak was an "act of God" which was out of his control.

Owner of top unit only agrees to fix the leakage and touch up the watermarks after the leakage has been fixed. The water flowed from master bathroom in the upper unit to the middle part of the ceiling in the master bedroom where the ceiling fan was attached. Sounds like water proofing failure in the upper unit master bathroom. Question now, is there anything in law saying that I can demand for the damaged ceiling fan to be fixed/replaced by the upper unit owner?

This post has been edited by yeeck: Sep 29 2021, 12:40 PM

If you can prove the damaged fan is because of the leak, sure can claim. You need to spend money to engage a professional opinion to support your claim.

This post has been edited by mini orchard: Sep 29 2021, 12:58 PM

That's right.
If you can prove the root cause (via professional opinion, evidence, pictures) of the fan being damaged due to water leakage then this can be substantiated.
When I meant by professional opinion - a registered electrician come by and inspect the damaged item and confirms the damage root cause in writing or building inspection done by qualified personnel with CIDB qualifications (confirming it in writing and signed) then this is likely to be accepted and strong in court.

Getting the opinion for a contractor who has no professional qualifications would not help much. Putting in a demand without evidence will lead you nowhere.

Have a thought. If the owner owner do a patchy job and the damage recur, it is best you do your evidence gathering now and build a case irrespective what happens.
The owner above may opt to do a cheap job without fixing the water proofing which doesn't solve the problem. Thus a recommended strong claim is actually not only claim for your damages but for the owner above to do the necessary rectification to ensure the situation does not recur. If it recur then you would be quickly be able to build a new case for non compliance resulting in the situation to recur.

Key word here is evidence. Non disputable evidence.

This post has been edited by hye: Sep 29 2021, 02:13 PM

If you are asking if you can report to police and get the police to charge him with a criminal offense for not replacing your fan it is not going to happen. If you want to take the legal route you can only bring a civil case against him.

Talk to him. If he doesn't want to compensate you swallow the loss and replace it yourself. Building up a case and taking him to tribunal is more trouble than the fan is worth. Your time, stress and mental health is more valuable than the price of a ceiling fan. You also don't want an angry neighbour to stay above you and make life miserable for you.