Kadaifi wrote in
:

A townhouse association says they will repair the chimney pipe
damaged by a hurricane but they will not repair a chimney pipe
damaged by corrosion over time. Can they do that?

I would have thought that they would be either responsible or
they would not be responsible for the repair of the chimney pipe
no matter what the cause.

Any thoughts?

First question: Was the fireplace/stove part of the townhouse
design, or was it added afterwards. If it was part of the original
design/construction, then in the absence of specific wording in the
association agreement it would seem that the association would be
responsible for any and all maintenance. If it was added later,
again in the absence of specific terms to the contrary, it would be
the unit owner's responsibility.

Regardless, hurricane damage would be paid for by any insurance in
force (that did not specifically exclude hurricanes, etc) as
catastrophic damage. Corrosion over time is a maintenance issue,
not covered by insurance. Remember, insurance is for catastrophic
losses, not gradual declines over time as part of a natural
process. Even if you could prove improper
construction/installation, it would not be an insurance issue, but
grounds for a civil suit.

As a former condo association president, my advice would be to get
the problem taken care of before it gets any worse; make good
documentation of before, during, and after and all relevant
paperwork; and sort out who is going to be responsible later. If
you are seeing visible corrosion, it would not be in your interests
to go through another heating season before repairing it, and you
really don't want to shut down your heating system for repairs
right in the middle of when you want to use it.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **