A Vancouver strata owner has lost her bid for $45,146 in compensation after sewage backed up through a sink and into her University of British Columbia suite in 2023.
B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal member Micah Carmody said in an Oct. 31 decision that wastewater backed up from Tingting Chen's kitchen sink while the strata’s contractor was “hydroflushing” a common property wastewater pipe.
Chen claimed the strata was responsible for the resulting water damage and sought compensation to cover remediation, repair, and the cost of temporary accommodation.
The strata, however, asked for the claim to be dismissed, saying the backup was caused by an unexpected blockage in the wastewater line in the parkade below Chen’s unit.
On March 9, 2023, Chen got home and found a substantial amount of wastewater had overflowed from her kitchen sink.
The strata said the hydroflushing company retrieved a large metal plumbing snake from the sanitary line in the parkade — likely from someone trying to clean their own line and losing the snake, according to a March 15, 2023, email from the strata’s building manager.
Both the strata and Chen agreed the backup occurred after hydroflushing had the clogged wastewater line.
trata took appropriate action when it
The strata hired an emergency restoration contractor to mitigate the damage, something Carmody found was appropriate action.
The tribunal member said there was no evidence that hydroflushing the pipes earlier would have prevented the backup, and he did not agree with Chen that backflow testing before the hydroflushing would have prevented the incident.
The clog, he said, was not something the strata could have anticipated.
“Overall, I find the strata was not negligent in how it maintained the common property pipes,” Carmody said.
“For these reasons, I dismiss Ms. Chen’s claim.”
