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I’m on the executive committee of a block of 15 units. One of the the EC members wants to introduce a bylaw that requires lot owners wishing to renovate common property must consult with the exec com first to iron out any concerns other lot owners may have and facilitate OC approval.
I’m a little concerned that she wants to introduce a stipulation that renovators cannot engage an engineer themselves, but must relinquish that responsibility to the exec com, who will commission an independent engineer. Aside from being redundant (accredited engineers won’t put their name to work that may fail), is it unnecessarily restrictive and potentially unfair to those who commission an engineer without realising this requirement and then must pay for another engineer.
No one reads bylaws, its bound to happen.
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Renovations by Owners to the Common Property of the Plan can only be permitted under the provisions of a Special By-Law that’s been resolved by >75% of Owners present in person or by proxy at a General Meeting of the Owners Corporation (O/C) voting in favour of its Registration.
Whilst it’s a good idea for Owners to consult with the Executive Committee (EC) to as you say “iron out any concerns … and facilitate O/C approval”, the O/C cannot approve any renovations (alterations/additions) to the Common Property unless that Special By-Law (above) is in place and properly Registered, and even then, only in accordance with the provisions of that Special By-Law – which could include the requirement for Engineers to be commissioned by the EC if that’s what was agreed to at the General Meeting.
So….it’s fine for your EC Member to introduce a Special By-Law to all Owners at a General Meeting, where if a quorum is present it’s then up to the majority (>75%) to agree to the proposed provisions or to reject those.
I personally don’t think it is a bad idea to have the EC arrange an engineer. In my complex, we generally use the one guy for all our engineering concerns. He knows the complex, he knows what problems we have had and what we have had to have corrected in the past. Another engineer coming into the complex, and not being aware of the past history, may see it in another way.
So perhaps you should have written into the by law that the EC uses the one engineer where ever possible to maintain some consistency in recommendations.