There are a number of defined occasions when you must allow access to your flat to allow for communal repairs and associated works.
In terms of the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004, you must give access to your flat in order to allow:
- maintenance (this includes common, mutual, and individual maintenance)
- maintenance surveys
- checks to be made about whether you have kept to your tenement responsibilities (e.g. not to interfere with the structure of the property)
- measuring the floor area to work out share of costs
- installation of gas pipes or a communal heating system
- tenants may be obliged by their landlord to allow access
You should be given ‘reasonable’ notice (‘reasonable’ is not legally defined, but can vary according to owners’ circumstances). If the work is an emergency repair, you do not need to be given ‘reasonable’ notice.
If you refuse access, other owners can apply through the Sheriff Court.
If any damage is caused while access is allowed for a common repair, then all owners in the tenement responsible for the repair are also obliged to pay their share of the cost of putting the damage right. So, assuming the default rules in the Tenements Act apply, if a top floor flat is damaged by roof repair work, the cost of reinstating decoration should be paid for by all owners, not just the top flat owner.
