It is most unfortunate, that the Board has chosen yet again, to place blame upon a resident for an incident, which recently occurred and caused serious disruption to the unit owner and her family. A report from those attending, assisting and witnessing attention to this matter though out its entirety, clearly demonstrates, that the unit owner was IN FACT, NOT RESPONSIBLE IN ANY WAY FOR THIS INCIDENT AND ANY RELATED DAMAGE.

First of all, it appears that our Board members and certainly management, have not informed themselves of our Bylaws, the Condominium Property Act and as well, the Registered Plan of the building. Given this neglect, It is apparent, that Board members are in fact, not aware of their fiduciary duties and governance responsibilities.

The Registered Plan of the building, clearly outlines the boundaries of condominium units and as well, the common areas which contain infrastructure that service the units. This includes all HVAC and plumbing components. The Registered Plan, clearly states, that the legal VERTICAL boundary of a condominium unit, ends at the concrete surface of the floor within the unit. In this instance, NO EVIDENCE WAS PROVIDED THAT DEMONSTRATED ANY BLOCKAGE CAUSED FROM WITHIN THE UNIT. IN FACT THE BLOCKAGE WAS DETERMINED BY THE CONTRACTOR TO BE BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE THIS RESIDENTIAL UNIT, AND IN FACT EXISTED IN THE VERTICAL COMMON AREA DRAINAGE LINE.

ALL drainage lines from toilets within the units, are situated below this legal boundary and are therefore within COMMON AREA. All repair and maintenance to the HVAC and plumbing components within these COMMON AREAS, are the responsibility of the Corporation.

The plumbing contractor who recently acted upon the emergency call to address flooding within both bathrooms of an individual unit, used a camera which upon observation, revealed no blockage in lateral drain lines. In fact, the problem proved to be a considerable blockage beyond the lateral lines below the unit. A very strong acid was required to finally remove this blockage. As such, it was clearly evident, that there was no “MISUSE OF THE SYSTEM” on the part of the owner, and in fact demonstrated that there was rather, an obvious lack of responsible maintenance, which includes regular flushing of the vertical drainage mains.

THIS REGULAR FLUSHING, HAS NOT BEEN CONDUCTED SINCE THE LAST CARETAKER CONDUCTED THIS FLUSHING A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO. This procedure involves substantial water pressure, and when conducted, is very UNMISTAKENLY LOUD within residential units. No such procedure, has been witnessed by residents, for many years.  With conduct of such preventive maintenance, and responsible address to maintained clearance of lateral drainage lines, (ALL WITHIN COMMON AREAS), such travesties can easily be prevented.

A most sincere apology is obviously warranted to the owner of unit #1002, who experienced a most traumatic experience that no owner should experience. Further, immediate and remedial action,  must be taken by the Board to ensure that all damages incurred by this owner, are appropriately addressed in an expedient fashion.

Finally, it must be noted, that there is not only one unhappy owner over THIS AND MANY OTHER ISSUES WITHIN THE BUILDING, but in fact, MANY, who find the Board’s failed response to in fact be, appalling, and most obviously,  irresponsible.