Property Manager Liability for Heating System Fire Damage

An individual, having been assigned responsibility for managing a building by a collective property association, was sued for damages after a fire originating from a defective central heating system, which the resident had failed to maintain, caused harm to another unit. The court rejected the appeal, reasoning that while the management contract only generally mentioned the duty to maintain common areas, the manager's specific contractual obligations included the duty to ensure the proper functioning of the equipment serving the entire building, and the failure to inspect and repair the known dangerous defect in the heating system constituted a breach of this essential maintenance duty, thus establishing liability for the resulting damages.