Court: Society not liable for flat water leakage

By Sohail Khan 18 August 2026, 3:02 pm

Synopsis

Leakage in concealed plumbing lines of 1st floor bathroom led to ground floor residents facing water leakage; Maharashtra court rules housing society cannot be held responsible for leakage or repairs inside individual units

Image for Who pays for repair of leakage from a neighbour's bathroom? Maharashtra co-op court clarifies housing society's liability — 1st floor bathroom leakage caused damage in ground floor resident’s ceiling; 1st floor owner refused to repair bathroom; Maharashtra Co-Op Appellate Court rules rules housing society is not liable to fix this (AI generated representative image)

Mr Gupta, who lives in Mira Road (East), Thane, owned two units on the ground floor and had a problem with water leaking from his ceiling. In March 2022, he reached out to Dr. Fixit Institute for structural protection & rehabilitation. The team assessed the situation and told Gupta that there was severe leakage and damage to his ceiling caused by the water seeping from the concealed plumbing lines of the bathroom in the 1st floor flat owned by Ms Srivastav.

Dr Fixit’s team quoted Rs 10,000 to Gupta for the necessary repairs. Additionally, Gupta brought on M/s. Mithilesh Water Proofing Co. to inspect his units and get an estimated repair cost.

Gupta showed the Infrared Thermographic Survey Report prepared by Dr. Fixit and requested Ms Srivastav to make the necessary repairs in her bathroom. Unfortunately, she ignored his request and failed to carry out the necessary repairs. Thus water continued to damage Gupta’s units, preventing him from renting them out.

Maharashtra Co-Operative Appellate Court order

A summary of the judgement is as follows:

Housing society is not responsible for seepage, leakage and damage in individual units

The court observed that a housing society is a corporate body and has no responsibility towards the leakage, seepage and repairing of individual flats in the building.

The court said that the responsibility of the society was limited to the maintenance of its building and the common spaces and hence, the society couldn’t be held liable for any seepage, leakage and damage caused to Gupta’s units.

Gupta can carry out the repairs and then recover the money from Ms Srivastav

The court said that Gupta can carry out the repairs or renovation of his own shop and at the most can recover the amount from Ms Srivastav, if on merits, it is proved that damage to his units was caused due to the leakage of her flat’s washroom.

At this interim stage, such a mandatory temporary injunction cannot be granted, said the court.

Thus the court rejected Gupta’s appeal.

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