First, Get the Roof Fixed. Then Go to Legal Papers to Figure Out Who Pays.

Q: I bought a condominium 10 months ago, and the edges of the skylight have started to leak. Our management company had its maintenance people look at it. They said that I need to replace it and that the cost would be mine. I disagreed, and they asked their lawyer for an interpretation. The lawyer responded that I was responsible. But I know that he did not have all the documents when he offered that opinion because he could not provide me with a copy of the floor plans. What should I do?

A: First, your condo association's lawyer, not the lawyer for the management company, should be providing the legal interpretation of your condominium documents. You may also want to retain your own counsel, rather than rely on lawyers who do not represent you.

The answer to your question about the skylight repair will be found in the legal documents of your condominium association. Those legal documents are the declaration, the bylaws, and the plats and plans.

The declaration is the legal document that declares your building to be a condominium. It is recorded among the local land records.

In a condominium, there are three basic components:

Units: The apartments.

Common elements: Shared features like the roof, elevators and entrance lobby.

Limited common elements: Common elements such as a balcony or a deck that not everyone in the complex can use or has access to.

You need to determine whether the skylight is part of your unit or is a common element or limited common element.

The declaration will define each of these components. In general, the common elements include the land; foundation; slabs; perimeter walls; pipes (except water and sewage pipes serving a particular unit); water mains; electrical wiring (except the wiring serving a unit); conduits; public utility lines; steps; and exterior lighting devices of common use or necessary to the existence, upkeep, use and safety of the building.

Units are also specifically defined. Here's an example from a real condominium: "Each Condominium Unit includes the horizontal space between the Unit side of the exterior walls of the building and the finished walls separating the Unit from corridors, stairs and where applicable to the surface of the finished walls of those interior walls which separate one Unit from another Unit. Each Condominium Unit also includes the vertical space measured from the (topside) surface of the subflooring to the finished (exposed) surface of the ceiling of such Unit."

It sounds legalistic, but if you read it carefully, you will see that the unit includes everything from wall to wall and floor to ceiling.