A Burnaby townhouse owner has won a battle with his strata over a deck that slopes and allows rain water to pool at his sliding door.
Mark Flaming, a co-owner of a townhome in the Westridge Living development on Barnet Road, complained to the province's Civil Resolution Tribunal, saying the third-floor deck leaked in January 2022, causing damage to his unit, according to a tribunal ruling Thursday.
A drain on the balcony was unclogged 24 hours later and initial repairs to the deck were completed by the end of July 2022, but Flaming complained the drain was higher than his sliding door, causing rainwater to pool outside it.
He sent the strata a video showing water pooling at his door and "little to no water near the drain."
"The water is deeper than the top of the person’s hand when placed palm down on the deck," states the ruling.
The company that did the repairs recommended Flaming squeegee the water into the drain.
The company said the fact the deck was still sloping was a "deficiency from the original development," according to the ruling.
An inspection of water damage inside the townhouse had also revealed "voids" under the sliding door that should have been sealed and that the deck was the same height as the patio door sill, which allowed snow to accumulate and snow melt to enter the unit though the unsealed door threshold.
On top of that, the strata said it had not approved the materials or alterations to the deck in the 2022 repair and told Flaming he had violated the bylaws.
It told Flaming to demolish the construction and restore the draining to its original state.
"The letter said, after the balcony was restored to the original condition, it would decide about payment for the wooden deck," states the ruling.
Flaming appealed to the CRT for an order compelling the strata to repair the deck properly immediately.
He also asked the tribunal to order the strata to rescind the bylaw violation letter it had sent him.
But the strata said it had lived up to its obligations by investigating the leak, unclogging the drain and paying for some repairs.
It argued Flaming and his co-owner were responsible for any further work.
Tribunal member Deanna Rivers disagreed.
She said, under the strata's bylaws and the Strata Property Act, the strata is "primarily responsible" to repair and maintain limited common property, such as the deck, except when an owner's use of the property creates additional expense.
Rivers gave the strata four months to complete repairs to the deck at its own expense.
It also ordered the strata to pay Flaming's tribunal fees.
Rivers said her decision rescinded the strata's decision about the deck, but she said the Strata Property Act requires stratas to retain copies of all correspondence sent or received, so she dismissed Flaming's request to have the bylaw violation letter removed from his file.
The CRT is an online, quasi-judicial tribunal that hears strata property disputes and small claims cases.
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