Water came into my unit from the one above me. Who pays for it?

It depends on where the failure was, what your association's governing documents say, and what the two policies cover — and those vary substantially between communities. Generally, associations are responsible for structure and common elements while owners are responsible for what is inside their unit, but the exact boundary is defined by your CC&Rs rather than by a general rule. Ask your community manager for the relevant section and talk to your own carrier. What we can do immediately is stabilize the building, document your unit specifically, and write the scope so it can be allocated cleanly once the responsibility question is settled — because waiting for that answer before drying is how a water loss becomes a mold loss.

The association said their insurance covers it. Do I still need to call mine?

Yes, notify your carrier regardless. The master policy and your individual policy cover different things, the boundary varies by community, and your policy may cover improvements, personal property, loss of use, and loss assessment that the master policy does not. Notifying your carrier costs you nothing and preserves your position; assuming the association's policy handles everything and finding out later that it did not is a much worse outcome.

What is loss assessment coverage?

It is coverage on an individual condo policy that responds when an association allocates a cost across owners — most commonly a large master policy deductible after a significant loss. Many owners either do not carry it or carry a limit well below what a big master deductible could produce. It is worth asking your agent about before you need it. We raise it because it is one of the most common unpleasant surprises we see owners run into after a major building loss.

How do you dry units when owners are not home?

Access is genuinely one of the hardest parts of multi-unit restoration, and it is why we start coordinating it immediately rather than after equipment is staged. We work through the community manager or building staff to reach owners, and for tenant-occupied and absentee-owner units we document access attempts carefully. Where a unit cannot be accessed, we document that too — because an undried unit adjacent to a dried one is a mold problem waiting to happen and the record matters later.

How disruptive is this to the rest of the building?

Less than most people expect if it is planned properly. We contain the affected areas, protect the corridors, lobbies, and elevators on the path in, confirm work hours and noise rules with management before mobilizing, and sequence material movement around resident use of the elevator and loading areas. Residents who are not in affected units should mostly notice equipment noise and some corridor protection, not a construction site.

Can you work with our management company's process?

Yes, and we would rather work through it than around it. Access coordination, resident notification, work-hour compliance, insurance and licensing documentation, and reporting in whatever format you need. If you manage multiple properties, one contractor relationship covers all of them rather than a different vendor at each building.

The leak started in my unit. Am I liable for the damage downstairs?

That depends on the cause, your governing documents, and your policy — and it is a question for your carrier and, if it is significant, an attorney. What we would say practically is that documentation protects you. A thorough record of what actually failed and why, made at the time rather than reconstructed later, is what supports an accurate determination. We document the failure point as carefully as we document the damage.

Do I have to hire you for the whole building, or can you just do my unit?

Just your unit is fine. If the association has engaged someone else for common areas and you need your unit documented and restored, we will do that. If another company handled the mitigation and you need the rebuild, we pick it up there. Tell us what you actually need and that is what we will quote.

Condo & High-Rise Restoration Phoenix AZ

A supply line fails on the fourth floor and by the time anyone notices, water is in three units below it and inside a shared wall. That single event now involves multiple owners, an association, a management company, a master policy, several individual policies, and at least two adjusters who have never spoken to each other — and somewhere in there is a question nobody can answer immediately: who is actually responsible for what. Restoring attached and stacked multi-unit property is not a bigger version of restoring a house. It is a coordination problem with a construction project attached to it, and a contractor who does not understand the ownership structure, the insurance structure, or the building logistics will make it worse. RCS Builders is a licensed general contractor and an IICRC certified restoration firm, we work condo, high-rise, mid-rise, and attached multi-unit property across Greater Phoenix, and we document it so every party who needs a record has one.

The defining feature of stacked and attached construction is that a failure in one unit is a failure in several. Water follows gravity and building assemblies, not property lines — down through floor systems into the ceiling of the unit below, laterally along the top plate into shared walls, into chases and plumbing walls that run vertically through multiple floors, and along the underside of decking where it can travel a surprising distance before it appears somewhere unexpected. That is why the unit where the leak started is often not the unit with the worst damage, and why the visible damage is almost never the full extent. It also means the clock is worse than it is in a single-family home: more assemblies are involved, more of the water is inside concealed spaces, and access to the units that need drying depends on reaching owners who may be at work, out of town, or renting the unit to someone else. Every hour of that delay is water moving further into the building.

In a single-family home, one owner has one policy and one contractor. In a condo, a single loss can involve the association, several individual owners, and their respective carriers — and the first argument is almost always about where one party's responsibility ends and the next one's begins.

Where the line generally sits: Most associations are responsible for the structure and common elements, and owners are responsible for what is inside their unit — often described as a "walls-in" or "studs-in" split. But the exact boundary varies enormously between communities, and it is defined by the association's governing documents rather than by any general rule. Some documents place original fixtures and finishes with the association; others put everything past the drywall with the owner. Some address upgrades and improvements specifically; others do not. **Your CC&Rs govern. Read them, or ask your community manager for the relevant section, before assuming who covers what.**

Why it matters immediately, not later: The responsibility question determines who authorizes the work, whose carrier is billed, and whose deductible applies. When it is unresolved, work stalls — and in a water loss, stalling is the single most expensive thing that can happen. This is exactly why we document thoroughly from the first visit and separate the scope by area and by likely responsibility, so the parties can sort the allocation while the drying is already underway rather than after mold has started.

The practical position we take: We do not decide who is responsible — that is between the association, the owners, and their carriers, and it is governed by documents we do not control. What we do is stabilize the building immediately, document conditions comprehensively so no party is arguing from memory later, and write the scope in a way that can be allocated cleanly once the responsibility question is answered.

Condo insurance is layered in a way single-family insurance is not, and the layers do not always meet cleanly. Understanding the general structure helps you ask your carrier and your community manager the right questions.

The association's master policy: Generally covers the building structure and common elements. What it covers *inside* a unit varies significantly by community and by policy form — some cover original construction and fixtures, others stop at the bare structure. The master policy also carries its own deductible, which on larger buildings can be substantial.

The unit owner's policy: An individual condo policy — often called an HO-6 — generally covers personal property, interior improvements and betterments, and liability, and typically includes loss of use if the unit becomes uninhabitable. What it needs to cover depends directly on where the association's coverage stops, which is why the two should be looked at together rather than separately.

Loss assessment coverage — the one most owners do not know about: When the association's deductible or an uncovered loss gets allocated across owners, loss assessment coverage on an individual policy is what responds to that assessment. Many owners either do not carry it or carry a limit far below what a large master deductible could produce. **This is worth asking your agent about before you ever need it**, and it is one of the most common unpleasant surprises in a significant condo loss.

Multiple adjusters, one building: A loss affecting several units frequently involves the association's adjuster plus one adjuster per affected owner, none of whom are coordinating with each other. We document per-unit and per-area rather than producing a single undifferentiated report, so each carrier receives documentation that addresses their specific exposure. That reduces the back-and-forth substantially and it protects owners whose damage might otherwise get folded into a summary that does not reflect their unit.

Ask your own people: Coverage varies by policy, by community, and by governing documents. Talk to your carrier and your community manager about your specific situation — we can tell you what we found and what it will take to fix, but we cannot tell you what your policy covers.

Restoration in an occupied multi-story building is a logistics problem before it is a construction problem, and the contractors who struggle here are the ones who show up planning to work like it is a house. Equipment and materials move through an elevator on a schedule, not through a front door — which affects staging, sequencing, and how much can be on site at once. There is frequently nowhere to put a dumpster, so debris has to be handled and removed differently. Parking and loading access are limited and often shared with residents who need them too. Work hours, noise restrictions, and common area protection requirements are set by the association or the building, and they are not suggestions. The path from the loading area to the affected unit runs through finished common corridors and lobbies that were not damaged and must not be — floor protection, corner protection, and elevator padding are part of the job, not an afterthought. And through all of it, people are living in the building. We plan access, containment, noise, and dust around residents who did not choose to have a construction project in their hallway, and we coordinate with the community manager or building staff rather than around them.

Checklist:

Water came into my unit from the one above me. Who pays for it?
It depends on where the failure was, what your association's governing documents say, and what the two policies cover — and those vary substantially between communities. Generally, associations are responsible for structure and common elements while owners are responsible for what is inside their unit, but the exact boundary is defined by your CC&Rs rather than by a general rule. Ask your community manager for the relevant section and talk to your own carrier. What we can do immediately is stabilize the building, document your unit specifically, and write the scope so it can be allocated cleanly once the responsibility question is settled — because waiting for that answer before drying is how a water loss becomes a mold loss.
The association said their insurance covers it. Do I still need to call mine?
Yes, notify your carrier regardless. The master policy and your individual policy cover different things, the boundary varies by community, and your policy may cover improvements, personal property, loss of use, and loss assessment that the master policy does not. Notifying your carrier costs you nothing and preserves your position; assuming the association's policy handles everything and finding out later that it did not is a much worse outcome.
What is loss assessment coverage?
It is coverage on an individual condo policy that responds when an association allocates a cost across owners — most commonly a large master policy deductible after a significant loss. Many owners either do not carry it or carry a limit well below what a big master deductible could produce. It is worth asking your agent about before you need it. We raise it because it is one of the most common unpleasant surprises we see owners run into after a major building loss.
How do you dry units when owners are not home?
Access is genuinely one of the hardest parts of multi-unit restoration, and it is why we start coordinating it immediately rather than after equipment is staged. We work through the community manager or building staff to reach owners, and for tenant-occupied and absentee-owner units we document access attempts carefully. Where a unit cannot be accessed, we document that too — because an undried unit adjacent to a dried one is a mold problem waiting to happen and the record matters later.
How disruptive is this to the rest of the building?
Less than most people expect if it is planned properly. We contain the affected areas, protect the corridors, lobbies, and elevators on the path in, confirm work hours and noise rules with management before mobilizing, and sequence material movement around resident use of the elevator and loading areas. Residents who are not in affected units should mostly notice equipment noise and some corridor protection, not a construction site.
Can you work with our management company's process?
Yes, and we would rather work through it than around it. Access coordination, resident notification, work-hour compliance, insurance and licensing documentation, and reporting in whatever format you need. If you manage multiple properties, one contractor relationship covers all of them rather than a different vendor at each building.
The leak started in my unit. Am I liable for the damage downstairs?
That depends on the cause, your governing documents, and your policy — and it is a question for your carrier and, if it is significant, an attorney. What we would say practically is that documentation protects you. A thorough record of what actually failed and why, made at the time rather than reconstructed later, is what supports an accurate determination. We document the failure point as carefully as we document the damage.
Do I have to hire you for the whole building, or can you just do my unit?
Just your unit is fine. If the association has engaged someone else for common areas and you need your unit documented and restored, we will do that. If another company handled the mitigation and you need the rebuild, we pick it up there. Tell us what you actually need and that is what we will quote.

In a Condo, One Failure Becomes Everybody's Problem.

⚠️ Water Does Not Respect Unit Boundaries

The Hardest Question in a Condo Loss Is Not Technical. It Is "Whose Is It?"

Master Policy, Owner Policy, and the Gap Between Them

Condo and High-Rise Restoration Services

24/7 Emergency Response & Stabilization

Multi-Unit Water Extraction & Structural Drying

Concealed Moisture Mapping

Mold Remediation in Shared Assemblies

Fire & Smoke in Attached Construction

Per-Unit Documentation for Multiple Carriers

Reconstruction & Rebuild

Common Area & Association Property

The Building Itself Changes How the Work Gets Done.

The Property We Work On

High-Rise & Mid-Rise Condominiums

Garden-Style & Low-Rise Condos

Townhomes & Attached Housing

Investor-Owned & Rented Units

Association Common Areas & Amenities

Associations, Managers, and Owners

Condominium Associations & Boards

Community Management Companies

Individual Unit Owners

Investors & Rental Owners

Immediate Action Guide

Water in a Condo — Do These Things Right Now

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Step 5:

Step 6:

Condo & High-Rise Restoration — Frequently Asked Questions