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We are about to start on the second stage of exterior painting, last undertaken in 1996. We have had a carpenter quote for the remedial work required in advance of the painting.
The apartment block was built in 1967, and it is said that the first owner to move in was the one who modified his top floor unit by enclosing the balcony with sliding aluminium windows, and completely removing the wall between the balcony and the living area, thus gaining an additional 1500x 3500 to the “internal” living space. There is no documentation for this work, which was clearly done without either local Council approval or Strata Committee permission.
The licensed carpenter, after his inspection of Unit 15, advises that the windows do not slide at all, because the installation of the aluminium windows was incorrectly done. There is no support for the assembly, which just sits on the 120mm wide balcony wall (550mm high) , which is chamferred on each edge, giving a surface of 60mm. No evidence of flashing. The ingress of water over time has so warped the timber sill, that no movement of the windows is possible. He proposes to frame up and sheet under existing window sill, remove defective sliding glass panels, supply & install aluminium sliding window units into the existing window frame.
The original owner has long since departed and the unit has always been occupied by tenants.
It is not feasible to remove the whole aluminium window assembly, as there is no wall at the inner point of the balcony.
The problem for the Owners Corp is that the unauthorised windows are effectively now the exterior of the building and therefore maintenance/repair/remediation is very likely to be at the expense of the OC.
Q. Is there any way we can avoid or share this cost?
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I would think the OC is obliged to meet the cost of putting it back to standard, not as modified. IE the OC would have to reinstate the inner wall and remove all the extraneous stuff from the balcony. If the owner wanted to have the balcony enclosed, and the OC approves the modification, fixing it to a safe standard of reasonable appearance would be a cost to the unit owner.
I suggest you go to the Council and obtain the original plans for the block that were approved. The plans will show what was approved in terms of the construction etc. of that unit, including the habitable space and the balcony, as it was originally intended.
If the owner then altered the unit to enclose the balcony without Council approval then it won’t meet the requirements of the original approval, and on its face is illegal. In those circumstances a Council can issue an order for the owner to rectify/reinstate so it meets the original plans. Bear in mind that the building standards that apply to a balcony will differ in a number of respects from those that apply to a habitable space, in terms of waterproofing etc.
It is then up to the owner to deal with Council and put in an application for approval of any changes to the unit. From what you have said, it seems that the unit as it currently is does not meet Council requirements, and it would be up to the owner to do the work to bring it to any conditions the Council requires.
The configuration of the window actually sounds dangerous. In terms of the removal of the wall between the balcony and the living space, that may have been a load-bearing wall. If this is the case then the owner would have to obtain Council approval to remove it and ensure it was structurally sound.
Presuming the approved plans don’t match what is currently there, you can report it to Council and they can take enforcement action.
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