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Water Leak Procedures

Overhead Leaks, Roof Leaks, Ceiling Leaks
This bulletin will walk you through how to handle a situation when you are experiencing an overhead leak from an condominium above you. If you are experiencing a roof leak, this will not help. If you believe you are experiencing a roof leak, call Management the next business day. Roofers are unable to repair a leaking roof during the rain.

We understand that you may not feel comfortable following these steps, but your association has adopted this policy to minimize emergency calls and escalating maintenance fees.

Overhead Leak Policy

If you have a water leak from the unit above your unit (not a roof leak) please follow the procedure below.

Leak not flooding; sporadic, occasional dripping

· Knock on door of unit causing water leak

· If owner is home

  1. Let owner know of leak and ask for their assistance in solving the problem
  2. Try to determine where the leak is coming from
  3. Ask owner not to use item causing problem until repair can be made
  4. Ask owner to have plumber repair the problem. At the end of this message we will list many of the plumbers that we have personal experience with, however you may use any plumber you wish.
  5. Important: Most of the time both of you will need to be present when the plumber arrives. Unless the problem is apparent such as a sink overflowing, they may have to cut holes in the walls or ceilings to figure it out.
  6. If you do not have to be present, get daytime phone number of owner and ask owner or plumber to notify you when repair is complete.

· If owner is not home

  1. Leave a note on the door and ask the owner to contact you regarding the leak
  2. When owner contacts you, follow steps above
  3. Contact manager in writing if the owner does not respond after 72 hours. Provide community name, unit numbers involved, and steps taken to resolve issue, your name, contact information and signature. Please make it clear that you left a note and otherwise attempted twice by going upstairs. We require this as justification to utilize a locksmith if necessary.
  4. Your Manager will notify owner of the necessity to access their unit, that a locksmith and plumber will be used and billed to their account if there is no response within 3 days.
  5. If you have not heard within a week after you wrote to us, dial our offices at 727-866-3115, When you hear the message you may dial your manager by name or dial their extension. They will contact you within a day if they do not personally take your call.
  6. Of course anytime the problem becomes an emergency, you should dial our offices explain your situation to our secretary and she will direct you to the appropriate person.

If the leak is causing flooding – this is an emergency

¨ Knock on door of unit causing water leak

¨ If owner is home

¨ Check for water shut off valve behind unit and use if possible. The water shut off valve controls the water the two units, upper and lower.

¨ Before you notify the Management Company that plumber has been called. Please have this information readily available: community name, your name, phone and address. We also need the overhead owner’s name, phone and address.

¨ Then you should dial our offices 727-866-3115 and follow the emergency procedure for immediate help.

¨ If owner is not home

  1. Check for water shut off valve behind unit and use if possible. The water shut off valve controls the water to two units, upper and lower.
  2. Leave note for neighbor to contact you and us. Get their phone numbers. Get them to us and we will reciprocate.

It is the responsibility of both owners to resolve water leak issues. Only after an attempt to resolve the issue has been documented and failed can the manager get involved. Damage to any unit is the unit owner’s responsibility, no matter who was responsible for the leak except in the case of negligence. Owners and renters should have insurance to cover deductibles, replacement of carpets, cabinets, paint, wall coverings and personal property. Typically such insurance is referred to as an HO6 policy.

You can stay in touch by emailing us at pbm@pbmfla.com describing the steps that you took, any contact information for the unit and we will take whatever action we need to access the unit above you.

Various Tradesmen that we have used over the years but are not recommending.