The reality of strata living is that many established buildings just trundle along, with no one able to explain why they do things a certain way except for “we’ve always done it that way”. That doesn’t make it wrong – just hard for new residents to grasp and their neighbours to explain.
You are right to want to know what your scheme’s responsibilities are but there is probably a better way forward than challenging everything that doesn’t seem right.
The fire safety question is a typical issue. Owners in older strata schemes live in fear of a fire safety inspection, in case the local council comes along and orders them to undertake expensive upgrades. However, we tend to forget that there are fire safety measures in place to protect us from the consequences of fires.
Locked fire doors, disconnected automatic door closures, disabled smoke detectors and blocked exits don’t matter until they do – and then they matter a lot.
As for being fined for some failure to abide by strata law – that’s not going to happen. There are no StrataKops prowling around looking for flaws and failures.
The worst that could happen is that an owner or tenant complains about some lapse, takes it to Fair Trading for mediation, then the tribunal (NCAT) where they have orders issued and the committee decides not to obey the orders.
THEN you get fined but there are so many steps along the way at which the committee or owners corporation could put things right that it’s easily avoided.
My advice to you would be not to stop, as a fellow committee member has asked, but dial it down a bit, get more focussed and do it from a position of knowledge rather than challenging everything you don’t understand. Pick an issue, research it as best you can and then, if need be, ask the questions.
You might consider joining the Owners Corporation Network (ocn.org.au) which has a terrific reservoir of accumulated knowledge and where you can directly contact other owners who’ve been through the same issues as you.
Right now, you are challenging people who may have no better idea of what’s going on than you do, and that will scare them.
Be a problem solver rather than a trouble-maker but be aware that identifying a problem where others think none exists puts you from the first category into the second.
I strongly believe there are no strata schemes in Australia that are fully compliant with all their strata laws and regulations. But strata is an organism that evolves to meet the needs of its residents and the community as a whole.
Your first challenge is to get your fellow committee members back onside. I find chocolate muffins and a quiet concession that you may have overstepped the mark work a treat.
Then you can start addressing issues in order of their importance and legal requirements, especially with the new strata Hub coming into effect at the end of next month.
The first cab off the rank could be the 10-year maintenance programme. You should have one but, the way the law works, you don’t even need to set aside funds for the work. That last part should calm a few nerves.