Written for the People Who Decide
On a block of flats or a business premises, the person who reports the leak, the people who approve the spend and the people who pay are often different. Most of them will never go onto the roof.
So the report matters as much as the repair. After inspecting, we write up what we found, with photographs, the cause of each problem and the work it needs, ranked by urgency. The quote is itemised to match: membrane, substrate repair, detailing and access, each priced separately.
That gives trustees something they can decide on and compare like for like. Three single-figure quotes to “waterproof the roof” are usually three different scopes, and the cheapest is often the one that left out the concrete repair.
Common Property, Exclusive Use and the Leak Between Them
Most leaks in a block cross a boundary. The roof is common property and the flat below it is not. The balcony slab may be common property while the tiles on it are an exclusive use area. The water does not care, but the question of who pays depends on it.
We do not give legal or body corporate advice. What we do is establish where the water is actually coming from, in writing, so trustees and owners can settle responsibility on facts rather than assumptions. On a building where the leak in one flat comes from the balcony of the flat above, that document saves months of argument.
Big Roofs, Plant and Box Gutters
Commercial roofs fail in the same places as house roofs. There are just more of them.
Flat roofs on blocks lose their falls over decades, have too few outlets for their area and often no overflow, so a blocked outlet in a cold front puts water over the upstands.
Plant and services. Aircon units, lift motor rooms, aerials, satellite dishes and solar arrays, each installed by a different contractor, each fixed through the membrane, and rarely detailed back properly afterwards.
Large metal roofs on factories and warehouses can carry thousands of fixings and long sheet runs, and thermal movement works at every one of them.
Box gutters sit inside the building line. When one blocks or overflows, the water goes into the building, not off the edge, which is why they need checking every year.
Concrete. Near the coast, spalling slabs and parapets lift membranes from below. The concrete is repaired before any waterproofing goes over it.
Planning Around a Budget and a Season
Roughly 70% of Cape Town rain falls between June and September, and most waterproofing systems need a dry substrate. The work belongs in the dry months, with March and April the best window before the first front.
For a body corporate, that means starting earlier than feels necessary. The inspection and quote need to land in time for approval, so the work happens while the roof is still dry. A scheme that waits for the first leak of winter usually ends up paying for emergency repairs instead.
Where the budget will not cover everything in one year, we split the work so the items causing damage come first and the rest follows.
