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Condo sues neighbouring project over flood damage

Published on Jan 13, 2012

By Selina Lum


THE developer of The Luxe condominium off Orchard Road has sued the owner of the condo next door and a building contractor over a flooding incident in 2008, when water flowed into its premises.

JBE Properties, developer of The Luxe on Handy Road, alleges that there was an overflow of rainwater because its internal drainage system had been congested with debris from construction work being carried out at The Nomu.

A five-day hearing in the case against The Nomu developer Handy Investments and contractor Seng Systems Engineering opened in the High Court yesterday.

The defendants say they cannot be held responsible for the flooding as the debris did not come from the worksite.

Also suing the defendants is Yisulang Art Gallery, which had to cancel a planned month-long exhibition at The Luxe because of the flooding.

The two plaintiffs are seeking more than $900,000 in damages between them, but the current hearing is only on the issue of liability.

The Luxe, a commercial-cum-residential building, is built on a hillside.

At the top of the hill are Mount Sophia Road and Adis Road. Rainwater from these roads flows into a public storm drain before being channelled into a drain at both condos' rear. This leads to a drainage outlet, known as a sump, at the rear of The Nomu.

An internal drain was also built at the rear of The Luxe; it discharges water into an internal sump.

On Aug 10, 2008, heavy rain resulted in the internal drainage system at The Luxe being choked by soil, silt and mud. This then seeped into the building through an exhaust pipe of a generator and a ventilation opening at the bottom of the retaining wall. The mess took one week to clear.

Both sides disagree on where the water came from and what caused The Luxe's sump to be choked.

The plaintiffs, represented by Mr Simon Goh, argue that rainwater from the top of the hillside was discharged into the sump at The Nomu.

However, as The Nomu's sump was 'appallingly congested' by construction debris, leaves and plastic sheets, it was not functioning at its optimum capacity, Mr Goh said in his opening statement. As such, the water overflowed into The Luxe site, carrying with it silt, soil and sand particles from The Nomu.

This meant The Luxe's sump had to discharge a larger volume of water than its design allowed. To make things worse, said Mr Goh, the sump was choked by silt, sand, soil and construction debris.

The water that accumulated at the bottom of the hillside eventually rose and entered the building through the two openings in the retaining wall.

However, the defendants, represented by Senior Counsel Giam Chin Toon, say the materials that choked the sump at The Luxe did not come from The Nomu, but from the slope behind The Luxe.

They assert that The Nomu site had been cleared two days earlier for the National Day holidays.

The defendants also assert that the flooding took place because the two openings in The Luxe's retaining wall were too low, and did not comply with requirements set out by national water agency PUB.