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Topic
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I am unable to open the door to get out of my car if i park within the length of my car space, due to some piping and a loose non-structural wall which supposedly protects this piping. The wall is located right where i would open my door. And right in the middle of 2 car spaces. The adjacent car space is wider though and doesn’t have an issue parking in his space.
I didn’t have a problem parking slightly out of my covered car space until balcony gutters fell onto my car and left some damage, not covered by the strata insurance.
We have gone to mediation and the EC are not agreeing to relocate the pipes to the back wall so they are out of the way, and i could open my door to get out.
They feel the costs shouldn’t be covered by strata, and that i should have measured the space when i bought the unit. The wall makes my space 20cm less than on the plan. Not much but enough not to be able to get out of the car on either side.
I am the only one affected by this currently, but it looks like similar piping reallocation has been done in one of the other car spaces.
I am now applying for adjudication.
Can anyone shed some light on my situation?
Probably a rare case.Am i wrong in saying that a building inspection isn’t supposed to see if you car fits into the car space?!
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You might like to check to see if your parking space meets the standards that applied when your building was constructed.
The standard that now applies seems to be AS/NZS 2890.1:2004 “Parking Facilities, Off Street Parking”.
In the standard there are minimum width requirements for residential parallel parking bays. For 45, 60 and 90 degree bays it’s 2,400mm unless it’s specifically designated as a space for small cars in which case it’s 2,300mm.
But if there are adjacent obstructions (a wall, fence or columns) that restrict a door from being opened, 300mm should be added to the minimum width.
So in your case 2,700mm (2,600mm for a designated small space) would be the current requirement.
If your space does not meet the standard that was required, when it was constructed (which might not be the same as the current standard), it might qualify as a building defect in which case the strata, assuming they are the owner of the pipes/wall, should make it right.
Otherwise, I think it would be your expense.
@Keep Calm said:
I didn’t have a problem parking slightly out of my covered car space until balcony gutters fell onto my car and left some damage, not covered by the strata insurance.How can balcony guttering not be covered by strata insurance? Is that what the strata manager told you? Seems very unlikely to me – it would be common property and therefore covered by insurance.
We have gone to mediation and the EC are not agreeing to relocate the pipes to the back wall so they are out of the way, and i could open my door to get out.
Check the original plan. If the pipes and wall have been added since the strata scheme was set up – especially if the car space is your “lot” rather than common property – then you can demand that they be moved.
The Owners Corp can’t just grab bits of common property or, especially, lot property, without due process.
Am I wrong in saying that a building inspection isn’t supposed to see if you car fits into the car space?!
It wouldn’t be a normal part of a pre-purchase inspection
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@Austman said:
… in which case the strata, assuming they are the owner of the pipes/wall, should make it right.The strata? That’s a term I thought we had banned from this website because it means different things to different people. I assume you mean the Owners Corp.
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Austman, above is correct. 2.7m minimum width is the standard if you have a wall or other obstruction on one side and another parking space on the other side. If you can ‘borrow’ door opening space from adjacent spaces on both sides the minimum is 2.4m.