Need Help! Condo neighbor compaint of water coming out of their tub drain

The condo unit next door is complaining of water coming out of their tub drain when we use our shower. The management co has call to tell me that I have a blockage and to snake our drain. I don't understand, my drain was slow but I used drano and now its fine. I really don't know if the backup is cause from my end so how can they know? And does anyone know if the condo association should take care of it, I thought all the pipes outside of the walls were their responsibility.

Would a blockage on my neighbor's end also cause the same prob? I don't mind snaking but the pipes might be kind old.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Bowlsquatter said:

. The management co has call to tell me that I have a blockage and to snake our drain. .

Click to expand...

What? Your condo co is an idiot. He is passing the buck.

If your neighbour is having water back up into his unit, then its a condo management problem. You purchased the condo with the expectation that the plumbing is done to code. If it is, then its your neighbours problem as well as yours. If I understand condo bylaws, if more than 1 unit having a drain problem, then its up to the management to flip the bill. (unless there is some sort of clause in the agreement that will make them not responsible) .

What do you pay maintanance fees for?.............. so they could pocket the dough!?

If your drain is backing up into a neighbors then the line is shared by 2 or more units. At that point it is not your problem any more! The property management company needs to kick into gear and do something!

I agree that normally, this would be a condo association problem, but you have to read the by-laws carefully, it is not always the case.

Point of information, though...there is no requirement to have an outside management company to help administer a condominium...a condo is a form of ownership whereby the unit owners as a group, own the whole facility, and the unit owners have limited exclusive rights to certain parts of it. They usually have fees which go towards maintenance of the common items, often pay for some shared utilities (such as snow plowing, lighting common areas, etc.). It may or may not pay for someone to actually manage the place.

The point being, that a condo may not have a paid professional helping to manage things - that is often done to simplify things, but other than whatever state laws apply (typically requires an audit to the state on an annual basis), there is no 'them' - it is all just 'us'.

Bottom line, the specific bylaws of the condo that you accepted when purchasing the unit are what apply and will identify whose responsibility this problem is - there is no fixed blanket answer and can vary considerably from state-to-state, let alone city to city.

It all in your CCR's. Around here , it is quite typical for the lanquage to state that piping serving ONLY one unit is the responsibilty of that owner, but pipes serving more than one unit are common. In this case, your tub drain and your neighbor's drain combine at some point into a main drain. The clog is in the main. At some point, you would have found that when HE used his tub, it backed up into YOURS.


While there is no requirement for professional management, the laws in California governing everything from reserves, to election of officers, to publication of budgets,etc, are so enourmously complex today that only a professional manager with a CCAM or PCM certificatioin could possibly do it right. Don't forget the Brown Act and the Davis-Stirling Act!

Seems highly unlikely it would backup with a shower. Now if it happened during a heavy rain, when the toilet was flushed, the bath was being drained or the washer emptying then that would be a different matter.