Re: Erecting a pergola on private verandah in an apartment building

@JimmyT said:
Your pergola will almost certainly be attached to Common Property at some point and this may require a special resolution by-law which will cover such items as ongoing maintenance of the pergola (your responsibility) as well as ensuring that a future Owners Corp doesn’t change its mind and ask you to remove the structure. You’d do well to just accept that and get a strata lawyer to draft the required by-law for approval. The assurances you are giving are basically what a by-law would provide but it would also protect your and future owners’ of your property’s interests.

The issue of council approval depends on the council but they usually take little interest in it – especially if it is approved by the Owners Corp and doesn’t affect other buildings.

As far as changing her advice, the Strata Manager is clearly not sure of the laws herself and in any case, can only act as instructed by the OC. The final advice sounds right and I would proceed along the route of getting a special resolution approval, subject to the OC approving the design and materials (if need be) and you employing a reputable builder.

Meanwhile get bthe council’s planning department to tell you exactly what they need from you and do your best to comply.

It’s tricky but it’s better to be street legal than fighting either your neighbours or the council.

Hi Jimmy,

Thanks for your fast answer (I needed that, as all this has been extremely frustrsting…)! I will just answer to the points you made:

Yes, the Pergola has to be attached to the Common Property, or at least sitting on it (as the floor is indeeed Common Property from what I know).

In the initial post I didn’t give you the full story (as I tried to keep an already long email as short as possible): about one and a half years ago I have had a ByLaw written, and went to an EGM with it, but it got rejected: at the time I had “big plans”, with architectural drawings of actual rooms that I wanted to build on the verandah (such as an extension to the kitchen / livingroom, a covered patio / barbeque area, and another room in the far corner (we thought of it as a ‘conservatory’). We spent quite a lot of $ on having all these done, and of course spent for the EGM. And it got rejected “out of hand” so to speak, as a large proportion of the owners are not actually living in the building, and so not interested but in maintaining the Status Quo, and the few that showed up at the EGM were influenced negatively by the current lady (former solicitor) who is now part of the ExCo (basically she mentioned all the concerns that the Council might have, and said that because of these concerns she recommends a rejection; during the EGM I mentioned that actually these are Council concerns, and not OC concerns, and described what the Strata lawyers said about what the OC concerns should be, and addressed them one by one, but I was not successful, she clearly has a knack on manipulating the audience and I nor the architect were as skilled at that).

So in the past year I thought what if I just build a pergola, this is indeed much less; so how hard could that be? Given the past experience on how the OC votes I am trying to find a way that does not require OC approval; the Town Planner told me that a Pergola, “as it is just a pergola” requires only ExCo approval (bar maybe the next door neighbour, which should also be interested to erect a pergola, as he has the same reasons as I have: significant loss of privacy, changed wind patterns, protection against elements and flies, mosquitoes, etc). So I asked the architect to change the plans, replace everything to pergolas, etc, and went for approval by the ExCo. This is when it became doubly frustrating: she again invokes all the concerns that the Council might invoke, as reasons to not approve, but not really invoking any of the concerns that an OC / ExCo should have.

I am at a loss here, and ready to go for mediation, etc. I spent already a lot ($ and time) on architects and on bylaws, so I can spend at least the same amount on legal matters, just for the sake of it! Probably when, and if, I get a satisfactory outcome from the Court there will be no money left to actually build anything, but at least I prove my point. And also my 25 years long marriage will be finished, as my wife already wants to move out if “I do not do anything about this”.

So… still the question is: do I need a Bylaw (which in itself requires an OC approval) or not? Cause is unlikely that I will get a ByLaw approved (Pergola or otherwise), given the context of this issue. Please disregard the issue of ‘how safe it will be for me” after the whole construction finishes, I am ready to take the risk to that degree.

Thanks again Jimmy,

and sorry for the long reply.