Office: landlord refuses to fix aircon

[pumi23]

Our aircon at the office is broken (doesnt work properly) for a while now and we finally told the landlord about it. she told us to call a handyman and get a quotation. handyman came and said it will cost 1,100 HKD to fix it. now she asks us to share the costs. is this common pratice in Hong Kong? I thought aircon is the responsibilty of the landlord, not ours.
Any advice? (I cannot check the contract at the moment because it is at the account for auditing).

[bookblogger]

You'll need to wait until you can check your contract then.

Usually, landlords cover the fixtures, which usually include A/Cs.

[pumi23]

thanks for the quick response. Thats what I thought. I will try to get a copy of our contract from the accountant to double check. But I was really surprised by the landlord asking us if we would share. This is a business relationship, not friends helping out each other. What is she thinking?

[penguinsix]

She's thinking how can I squeeze a little more money out of someone since the contract probably says "landlord shall maintain all appliances" or something. Maybe she is hoping you don't have a copy of the lease.

[pumi23]

I just got a copy from the accountant.
It says "The Landlord shall keep and maintain the structural parts of the said premises in proper state of repair provided that the Landlords liability shall not be incurred unless and until written notice of any defect or want of repair has been given by the tenant to the Landlord and the Landlord shall have failed to take reasonable steps to repair and remedy the same after the lapse of a reasonable time from the date of service of such notice."

This sentence is so long, i got totally lost.

[Oldtimer]

As you can see there is no mention of maintaining any Appliances.
She is only responsible structural parts.
Air-con is not part of the structure.

I just got a copy from the accountant.
It says "The Landlord shall keep and maintain the structural parts of the said premises in proper state of repair provided that the Landlords liability shall not be incurred unless and until written notice of any defect or want of repair has been given by the tenant to the Landlord and the Landlord shall have failed to take reasonable steps to repair and remedy the same after the lapse of a reasonable time from the date of service of such notice."

This sentence is so long, i got totally lost.

[pumi23]

right, need to check the rest of the contract.