Water damage is the most frequent claim in a condominium. The question that governs everything is not where the damage is, but where the leak originates.
The classification rule to know
“Where the title deeds are silent or contradictory”, the following are deemed to be common parts: “the structure of the buildings and the items of common equipment, including those sections of the associated pipework that pass through private premises” (article 3 of the Law).
The practical consequence, and often a counter-intuitive one: a rising main or a soil stack running through your flat remains, in principle, a common part — even where it is buried in your wall or hidden inside boxing. Conversely, your appliances, your flexible hoses, your seals and any pipework serving your unit alone are private.
The case of waterproofing
Where the règlement de copropriété (the condominium regulations) reserves the enjoyment of a common part to one co-owner — a terrace, a balcony, a private garden — the cost of its upkeep falls on that co-owner alone. But that rule “does not apply to expenditure on the structure of the building, and in particular on waterproofing” (article 7 of the Law).
Water seeping in because of the waterproofing of a terrace is therefore, in principle, a matter for the condominium — even where that terrace is for your exclusive use.
They apply only where the title deeds are silent or contradictory. The exact classification of windows, shutters, balconies, terraces and pipework varies from one set of condominium regulations to another in Luxembourg. There is therefore no single answer that holds good for every condominium. Before committing expenditure or entering into a dispute, have your regulations and your état descriptif de division (the schedule of division of the building) checked.
The sequence to follow
- Stop the leak: valve, stopcock, or the main supply if necessary. Protect whatever can still be protected.
- Notify the neighbour concerned and the syndic (the managing agent). Water damage almost always involves at least two units.
- Identify the source. Leak detection work is sometimes needed; who pays for it depends on what the investigation finds and on the cover under the policies involved — a question worth asking before ordering it.
- Draw up a joint damage report between the units affected, keeping strictly to the facts.
- Report the claim: to the syndic for the building, and to your own insurer for your belongings.
- Repair the source first, make good afterwards. Redecorating before the cause has been dealt with means paying twice.
Who pays for what
- Repairs to the common parts are charges of the condominium, apportioned according to the rules applicable to the building (article 7 of the Law).
- Repairs to the private parts are at the expense of the co-owner concerned.
- Compensation for the damage depends on the insurance policies involved, on their excesses and on where liability is established. It is a separate question from whether the part is common or private.
- Lastly, the syndicat de copropriété [the co-owners’ association] is liable for damage caused to co-owners or to third parties by a construction defect or by a failure to maintain the common parts, without prejudice to any right of recourse (article 11 of the Law). That is the exposure covered by the building’s policy.
The cases most often argued over
Three situations come up again and again: water coming in from a terrace above, a concealed leak where nobody knows whether the section is common or private, and shower tile grouting, which is often private. In all three, the technical investigation comes before the legal argument: establish the source, then apply the classification set out in the regulations.
When repetition becomes the real issue
Recurring water damage in a building rarely points to bad luck: it points to ageing pipework or failing waterproofing. At that stage, the right answer is no longer a run of emergency call-outs but a survey and a programme of works, funded where appropriate from the fonds de travaux (the statutory works fund). That is an item to place on the agenda of the general meeting.
Having your own situation classified
Send us a description of the leak, where you think it comes from and a few photographs, stating your building and your unit. We will go back to your condominium regulations and tell you what they provide for the part in question.
General information on Luxembourg condominium law (the amended Law of 16 May 1975 and the Grand Ducal Regulation of 13 June 1975, in their consolidated version applicable as at 1 August 2023). Your own règlement de copropriété may lay down specific rules, which prevail within the limits set by the law. This content is not legal advice.