How insurance-claim repairs work for strata buildings

The first thing to get straight is the cast, because two of the roles sound the same and pull in opposite directions. A loss adjuster is appointed by the insurer and represents the insurer's interests. They investigate the claim, confirm whether the policy responds, visit the site, photograph the damage and gather evidence. On a larger or multi-unit loss you will usually get one; on a small claim you may not (Insurance Claims Group; RentCover).

A loss assessor is the opposite number. They are engaged by, and act for, the policyholder, and are typically paid a percentage of the settlement as a success fee. Some bodies corporate bring one in on a big or contested claim. Do not confuse the two: the adjuster is the insurer's set of eyes, the assessor is yours (Insurance Claims Group).

Then there is the body corporate itself. Under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, the body corporate must maintain the common property in good condition and manage it reasonably, while each lot owner looks after everything inside their own lot. The decisions sit with the committee and owners, not with the strata or building manager acting alone. The manager is the coordinator and point of contact; spending and approvals flow through the committee (qld.gov.au; BCCM Act 1997). That distinction matters once repair quotes start landing.

Most strata claims follow the same arc. First, make-safe: emergency works to secure the building and stop further damage, which we cover in its own section below. Then the assessment, where the adjuster inspects, confirms cover and documents what happened. Then the scope of works. Then the repair. Then sign-off.

The scope of works is the document everything else hangs off. It lists every required repair, room by room and element by element, and the repair quotes are priced directly from it. If the scope is thin, if it misses a wall, a room or a trade, the quote built on it is understated, and the body corporate or owner can end up wearing the gap (Kepal). Insurers also cap their liability to the accepted scope and to the most economical reasonable cost, which is why a panel builder's number and an owner's builder's number can differ (Insurance Council of Australia). The lesson for a committee: treat the scope as the most important page in the file, and read it against the actual damage before anyone signs.

Once the scope is agreed, the repair runs, and at the end the work is inspected and signed off. Where a licensed trade is involved, that sign-off includes the right certification, which on the Gold Coast comes up constantly with waterproofing (more on that below).

Strata claims usually settle one of two ways, and the choice has real consequences. The first is an insurer-managed or managed repair: the insurer arranges a panel builder to carry out the agreed scope, project-manages it, and the work comes with a workmanship warranty. The body corporate's exposure is largely limited to the excess and anything outside the scope (Insurance Council of Australia).

The second is a cash settlement: the insurer pays a lump sum and the body corporate manages the repairs itself. It sounds simple and sometimes suits a scheme that wants control, but the risks are worth naming. Accepting a cash settlement generally completes the claim for the insurer, there is no workmanship guarantee from the insurer, and if the real cost runs over the sum, or hidden damage surfaces once walls are opened, the body corporate covers the difference (AFCA; Insurance Council of Australia). The Australian Financial Complaints Authority's own guidance is to review the policy, get multiple quotes and understand exactly what you are giving up before you take the cash. For a building with salt-affected concrete, where the full extent often is not visible until you start cutting, that gap risk is not theoretical.

Excess is a common flashpoint in strata, because it is not always obvious whose money it is. The established strata-management position, drawn from the BCCM regulation modules, runs like this. Where a single lot is affected by an external event such as a storm or hail, the affected lot owner generally pays the excess, unless the body corporate decides that would be unreasonable in the circumstances. Where two or more lots are affected, or common property is involved, the body corporate typically pays (Stratacare; LookUpStrata).

The word doing the work there is reasonable. The body corporate has a discretion and it must exercise it reasonably; an excess should not impose an unreasonable burden on an individual owner. And if the damage flowed from the body corporate failing to maintain common property in the first place, it is reasonable for the body corporate to pay. So avoid hard rules like the owner always pays. The honest framing is: generally the affected owner for a single-lot external event, generally the body corporate for multi-lot or common-property damage, always subject to a reasonableness check (Stratacare; LookUpStrata). For anything contested, this is a conversation for the committee and your strata manager, not a call we make.

Before the assessor has even been out, there is often work that cannot wait. Make-safe means emergency works to secure the property and prevent further damage: tarping a roof, boarding a window, propping or fencing off a failed structure. It is usually covered as part of the claim (Ausure).

It is also a duty, not just an option. Most policies require the insured to mitigate, meaning take reasonable steps to limit further loss. Leave a hole in the roof open for a week and the insurer can later argue the extra water damage came from the inaction rather than the storm, and decline that part of the claim (Disaster Recovery Australia). So the practical drill after any event is: make safe quickly with a licensed contractor, keep every receipt and tax invoice, and photograph the damage before and after. Many policies carry a make-safe sub-limit, with trade and insurer commentary putting it commonly in the order of $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the policy; this is indicative guidance, not a legislated figure, so check your Product Disclosure Statement for the actual limit. Costs above that can still go into the main building claim if they were reasonably necessary (Ausure; Disaster Recovery Australia).

Two categories dominate Gold Coast strata claims, and both are tied to the location. The first is concrete cancer, also called spalling. Chloride from the salt air penetrates the concrete and corrodes the embedded steel; as the steel rusts it expands several times its original volume, cracking and breaking the concrete away from inside (Waterstop/WSRG; EPL Waterproofing). Coastal buildings near the ocean cop it worst, and balconies, open car parks and exposed slabs are the usual hot spots. A proper repair removes the spalled concrete, treats or replaces the reinforcement, may add sacrificial anodes, and reinstates with a high-strength chemically bonded mortar. This is also why waterproofing certification matters: wet-area and balcony waterproofing valued over $3,300 must be done by a QBCC-licensed waterproofer, to Australian Standard AS 3740, and certified in writing on a Form 16 (QBCC; Building Institute).

The second is storm damage. South-east Queensland's supercell season runs roughly October to March and brings large hail, damaging winds and rain that overwhelms drainage. Common covered claims are wind and hail damage, plus storm-driven water ingress through cracked tiles or stressed flashings; in units, a frequent culprit is a failed flexible plumbing hose (Insurance Claims Group; LookUpStrata). One trap worth flagging to owners: flood, meaning water rising from the ground such as an overflowing creek, is usually separate optional cover rather than automatic, while rain that falls from the sky is generally treated as storm (Financial Rights Legal Centre). On any of these, use licensed contractors only; unlicensed work can void cover for that element of the claim (QBCC).

A quick word on licences, because getting it wrong can sink an otherwise valid claim. In Queensland a QBCC licence is required for building work valued over $3,300, measured as the reasonable cost to the consumer including labour, materials and GST, regardless of who supplies the materials (QBCC). Some work needs a licence at any value, with no threshold at all, including plumbing, drainage, gas fitting and fire protection (QBCC).

For strata that translates to a simple rule: insurers and policyholders should not use unlicensed contractors, because unlicensed work can void coverage for that element of the claim (QBCC). This is the quiet reason coordination is worth something. Our model is one number, one accountable contact, and a vetted network of licensed specialists across the trades a strata claim touches, so the right licensed person does each part and the certification is there when the assessor asks for it.