There are two discussion in the Forum this week that touch on the same topic – the limitations on how much you can and should regulate your scheme – from very different angles.
One of them is about owners who have access to the scheme’s roof space being asked to sign liability waivers.
The other is about the kind of by-laws that could be brought in to control the storing and charging of e-bikes and scooters.
The first one is fairly straight-forward. Owners who have exclusive access to common property – your balcony would be an example in most schemes in NSW and Queensland – are limited on what they can do with the area.
Or should I say, they are supposed to be limited in what they can do. Most people follow the rules and apply for by-laws allowing them to make significant changes, the corollary of which is that the by-law passes ongoing responsibility for the affected common property to the owner and any subsequent owners.
Others just assume that since no one else can access the space, they can do what they like with it. I have been in a two story walk-up in Coogee where the new owners upstairs took out the ceilings to give themselves a vaulted space, without so much as a by-your-leave.
More commonly in strata, I am guessing that owners might want to put down flooring and install skylights – which can be a nightmare when it comes to waterproofing.
In the case mentioned by our Flatchatter, the strata manager and presumably the committee want the owners with roof access to sign a document saying they will be responsible for maintaining the roof.
But is that enough? And what are they doing in there? If they’re using it as extra living space, or even storage, they should be getting a by-law agreed while paying the OC compensation for effectively annexing the space. You can chip in on that HERE.
Meanwhile the other by-law conundrum is about e-bikes and e-scooters and the potential they could have for causing fatal fires in strata schemes. Strata Community Association (Qld) has asked the state government to introduce regulations that would allow some form of control over e-vehicles and their charging.
SCA-Qld rightly says that bodies corporate can’t control much of what people do in their own homes, so what can be done to mitigate the potential dangers from mishandled large Lithium-ion batteries?
A by-law forbidding them from being transported across common property might keep them out of your block – but would it even stand up to a challenge at NCAT? And are they that dangerous anyway?
There’s a lengthy and overheated discussion HERE and we’d love you to plug in before it self-combusts. It ends with the Flatchatter calling me a liar – and I’ve just broken my New Year resolution not to get annoyed.
Elsewhere on the forum
- What would happen if there was another Mascot Towers? That’s HERE.
- When do you count a show of hands and when is it unit entitlements in a strata vote? That’s HERE.
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