Florida Statute 718: Condo Water Leaks and HO-6 Claims

Last checked against the Florida Statutes and official sources on October 25, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Florida condo water damage requires three separate decisions: who maintains the failed component, which policy insures each damaged item, and who ultimately bears uninsured repair costs. Chapter 718 is the Condominium Act; section 718.111(11) supplies the main insurance allocation, while section 718.113 and the declaration address maintenance. A leak starting in one unit does not, by itself, make that owner responsible for every resulting loss.

Who is responsible for a water leak in a condo?

Start with the failed pipe, roof, appliance, or other component. Maintenance of common elements belongs to the association, except responsibilities for limited common elements assigned to owners by the declaration. Section 718.113(1), Florida Statutes, also requires association maintenance, repair, and replacement of property for which the declaration makes it responsible.

Next list the damaged items separately. Fixing the failed plumbing connection is a different task from replacing wet drywall, cabinets, or furniture. Finally, examine whether an insurable event, negligence, or another statutory exception changes who bears reconstruction expenses. Keep the maintenance documents and insurance decisions together without treating either as the whole answer.

Who is responsible for repair of water pipes in a condo?

Identify what the pipe serves before assigning responsibility. Section 718.108(1)(d) includes installations furnishing utilities to more than one unit or the common elements within common elements. Section 718.113(1) assigns common-element maintenance to the association, subject to declaration-based duties for limited common elements. A pipe serving only one unit requires review of the unit boundaries, declaration, and maintenance provisions; its location inside a wall does not settle the issue.

Ask a plumber to identify the failed segment, the units it supplies, and whether the problem is a supply leak, drain failure, or appliance connection. Request an estimate separating repair of the pipe, access work, drying, and restoration. That breakdown helps distinguish the maintenance obligation from the master-policy and HO-6 coverage questions discussed below.

Who is responsible for a slab leak in a condo?

A pipe under a slab is not automatically an association expense or an owner's expense. Apply the same common-element and declaration analysis, using building plans and a plumber's findings to determine which units the line serves. Separately classify the slab, original building materials, and owner-insured floor coverings under section 718.111(11)(f).

For example, one estimate may contain excavation to reach a shared pipe, restoration of original concrete, and replacement of an owner's tile. Request a written allocation for each item instead of accepting a single answer for the entire slab leak. Coordinate access and reconstruction with the association before approving permanent work.

Water damage from the condo above me: who pays?

A ceiling stain identifies where damage appears, not necessarily who is legally responsible. Report it to management and your insurer, document its spread, and request investigation of the upstairs fixture or shared plumbing. The maintenance, insurance, and uninsured-expense rules still apply separately. Under section 718.111(11)(j), negligence or specified misconduct can affect uninsured repair expenses; the fact that water came from upstairs alone does not establish negligence.

Keep the plumber's cause report and communications showing when each person learned about the leak and what they did afterward. Ask for separate decisions on original drywall, paint or ceiling coverings, cabinets, and belongings. This also avoids treating a possible liability claim against another owner as a substitute for notifying your own insurer.

Can Florida condo insurance exclude water damage?

Coverage depends on the policy. Chapter 718's allocation of property to the master policy or the unit owner does not promise payment for every cause of water damage. HO-6 policies commonly insure named perils, and endorsements can change their scope. Request the actual insuring agreement, water exclusions, repeated-leakage provisions, deductibles, and any water-damage limit from each insurer.

If management describes itself as an HOA, first confirm whether the property is legally a condominium governed by Chapter 718. Do not apply this condo allocation merely because a community has an association. For a condominium dispute, compare the declaration's maintenance duties with the statutory insurance allocation and the policy language cited in the coverage decision.

HO-6 versus master policy: which covers what?

The association's required primary property coverage includes original condominium property and replacements of like kind and quality, plus qualifying association alterations or additions. It is not confined to exterior walls. Drywall is not on the statute's list of excluded items, but "floor, wall, and ceiling coverings" are, so paint, wallpaper and similar finishes are often treated as the owner's responsibility. Check how your declaration and the master policy treat them (section 718.111(11)(f), Florida Statutes).

Damaged property	Coverage to examine first
Original building structure, roof, and original drywall	Association master property policy, subject to its covered causes and terms.
Floor, wall, and ceiling coverings; electrical fixtures; appliances; water heaters and filters; built-in cabinets and countertops; window treatments	Owner's HO-6 policy for listed items within the unit boundaries serving only that unit; these are excluded from the required master coverage.
Furniture, clothing, electronics, and other personal belongings	Owner's personal-property coverage.
Extra living costs, personal liability, and qualifying assessments	The relevant HO-6 coverage, subject to its trigger, exclusions, and limits.

HO-6 is unit-owner insurance. Citizens explains that it covers belongings and owner-insured structural items for the perils named in the policy; it is not a promise to cover every leak. Florida DFS notes that an endorsement may broaden named-peril coverage. Check building-property and contents limits against what you actually own. Section 718.111(11)(f)3 assigns the listed excluded property, and any insurance on it, to the unit owner. Under paragraph (g)2, owner-responsible reconstruction performed by the association can be charged to the owner and collected as an assessment.

Do not settle the allocation with the phrase “drywall inward.” Also identify improvements installed by a current or former owner or the developer. Under section 718.111(11)(n), the association need not pay reconstruction or repair expenses for such an improvement if it benefits only that unit and was not a standard improvement installed by the developer on all units as part of original construction, wherever the improvement is located. Obligations to recover benefits under insurance purchased specifically for those improvements remain. Paragraph (e) allows a declaration-based insurance exception for qualifying freestanding buildings. Timeshare associations are outside subsection (11).

Who pays for condo water damage from the roof?

For a common roof, apply the association's maintenance duties first. Then ask what caused the water entry and which components were damaged. A roof leak can involve a master-policy building claim, an owner's HO-6 claim for finishes and belongings, and an uninsured maintenance expense in the same event.

For example, photograph the wet ceiling before separating the estimate into drywall, ceiling covering, cabinets, and personal property. Ask both adjusters to identify the coverage decision for each category. The separate roof-leak claims discussion provides context for documenting that damage.

What if a roofing contractor caused the water damage?

Do not assume hiring a new roofer transfers the entire problem to one insurer. Ask the association to preserve the roofing contract, work dates, photographs, incident reports, and communications about temporary protection. Identify whether the dispute concerns defective work, resulting damage, contractual obligations, or alleged negligence, and request the actual policy provisions addressing each.

Section 718.111(3) gives associations authority to contract, sue, and be sued concerning their powers, including common-interest roof matters after owner control. That authority does not establish that a particular contractor was negligent or that a liability policy pays. Those questions require the evidence and relevant contracts. Report property damage while responsibility is investigated.

Who pays the master-policy deductible and uninsured repairs?

Under section 718.111(11)(j), association-insured property damaged by an insurable event is repaired by the association as a common expense. Without an insurable event, maintenance provisions in the declaration or bylaws control. Deductibles and excess damages are common expenses under the default rule, subject to statutory exceptions.

Those exceptions include repair costs not paid by insurance when damage is caused by intentional conduct, negligence, or declaration/rule violations by an owner, family members, occupants, tenants, guests, or invitees; the rule also reaches other owners' or association personal property and other owner-insured property. Insurer subrogation rights remain. If the association collects repair costs from an owner and later receives insurance proceeds reimbursing those same costs, it must reimburse the owner to that extent. The association need not treat losses as a common expense if an owner knew or should have known about them but reported them only after its claim for that property was settled, finally resolved, or denied as untimely. Paragraphs (k)–(m) permit an opt-out from the default expense allocation with approval by a majority of the total voting interests of the association, or the affected condominium under paragraph (l), effective upon recording the required notice. Request that recorded notice rather than relying on a verbal description of the rules.

Does HO-6 cover hurricane damage, mold, and living expenses?

A hurricane claim still requires review of the insured property and cause of loss. Citizens identifies a hurricane deductible for its HO-6 coverage. Flood protection requires separate applicable coverage, available through a flood policy or, with some private insurers, an endorsement; “hurricane insurance” does not answer every water question.

Check mold provisions independently. Florida DFS describes mold property endorsements addressing testing, removal, and cleaning limits. EPA recommends prompt moisture correction to prevent growth. Do not allocate mold costs solely by where the leak began. The discussion of water and mold coverage limits explains why separate restrictions matter.

For temporary relocation, check the loss-of-use trigger and save receipts. DFS describes additional living expenses as reasonable extra costs following a covered loss, rather than reimbursement of every ordinary household expense.

How does condo loss-assessment coverage work?

Section 627.714 requires unit-owner residential property policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2010, to include at least $2,000 of property loss-assessment coverage for assessments arising from the same direct loss to property owned collectively by all association members, if the policy covers that type of loss. The deductible cannot exceed $250 per direct loss; no assessment deductible applies if another property-loss deductible applies to the same direct loss. The limit is not multiplied by the number of assessments.

Coverage is measured by the limit in effect one day before the occurrence. Changes to the assessment limit made on or after the day before the occurrence do not apply to that loss. The unit-owner policy must also be excess over amounts recoverable under other insurance covering the same property. See loss-assessment coverage for related claim questions.

What should I do, and which deadlines matter?

1. Notify the association and your insurer promptly; keep delivery records and claim numbers.
2. Photograph damage and take reasonable steps to prevent further loss. Keep emergency-work receipts.
3. Request both policies, endorsements, declaration, itemized estimates, and written coverage explanations.
4. Coordinate reconstruction: section 718.111(11)(g) requires prior written board consent for an owner to undertake reconstruction on portions of the unit, plus required permits and approvals.

Under current section 627.70132, ordinary initial and reopened property claims require notice within one year after loss; supplemental claims require notice within 18 months after loss. A reopened claim seeks additional costs for previously disclosed damage after closure. A supplemental claim seeks additional same-peril loss previously adjusted by the insurer, or costs incurred during repairs or replacement under a timely reported open claim. Materially affected combat deployment can toll these periods. For hurricanes, the statutory loss date is landfall; for tornadoes, windstorms, severe rain, and other weather events, it is the date the event is verified by NOAA (section 627.70132(3), Florida Statutes). Policy prompt-notice duties still matter.

For loss-assessment coverage under section 627.714, notice has a separate rule: the later of one year after the covered loss event or 90 days after the association or its governing board votes to levy an assessment resulting from that covered loss, with an outside limit of three years after the covered loss event that created the need for the assessment. The ordinary property-contract breach lawsuit period is five years from loss under section 95.11(2)(e), not three years; it does not replace earlier claim-notice requirements. Confirm rules applicable to older policies and losses.

For residential property claims subject to section 627.70131, the insurer generally must acknowledge claim communications within 7 calendar days unless it pays within that period or statutory factors beyond its control prevent acknowledgment. For claimants represented by counsel, the acknowledgment rule applies only to communications necessary to provide forms and instructions. The insurer generally must pay or deny an initial, reopened, or supplemental claim, or a portion, within 60 days after receiving notice. Statutory factors beyond its control and tolling can apply. An information request alone does not toll the period: subsection (8)(b) requires failure to provide material information within 10 days after receipt of a request sent at least 15 days before the decision deadline. Qualifying dispute-resolution proceedings also toll the requirements. These insurer deadlines do not extend your notice deadlines.

When the coverage decisions conflict

Compare the insurers' positions by damaged component and policy clause, then identify any remaining dispute over repair responsibility. A property-insurance lawyer can review a specific condo claim involving conflicting master-policy and HO-6 decisions.

Sources

• Section 718.108: common elements and shared utility installations
• Section 627.70131: insurer acknowledgment and decision deadlines
• Section 718.111: association insurance and repair allocation
• Section 718.113: maintenance
• Citizens: condo coverage
• Florida DFS: homeowners insurance overview
• Section 627.714: unit-owner and assessment coverage
• Section 627.70132: claim notice
• Section 95.11: civil-action limitations
• Florida DFS: policy endorsements
• Florida DFS: flood coverage
• EPA: mold and moisture guide