Aurora shambles exposes deep flaws in Vic strata
An owners’ revolt at a 1000-unit apartment building in Melbourne has highlighted the crippling inadequacies of Victoria’s strata laws and tribunal system. And it illustrates how a built-in lack of…
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Free webinars on defects, waterproofing and S237
Waterproofing, the lack thereof or flaws therein, is consistently one of the most widely spread yet least understood issues in strata. However, the Owners Corporation Network (OCN) is making a…
Forum: Broken fence lets dog get at next-door cat
This week’s lead post has a tragic (and nasty) pet story at its heart as well as a twisty fence angle that will have all our legally minded Flatchatters intrigued.…
Forum: New flatmate peeved by pet pee pong
An unusual issue has cropped up this week and it has a surprisingly simple solution … or it would be if finding somewhere to rent in our cities wasn’t so…
Vic authority cracking down on phoenix builders
Victorian building companies who deliberately and repeatedly go bust to avoid paying debts have been put on notice, with the state’s Building Authority (VBA) working as part of the Phoenix…
Qld laws blocking relief for flooded residents
Relief and compensation for apartment owners whose homes were destroyed by Queensland’s floods are being blocked because of outdated laws that prevent the sale of apartment blocks unless all owners…
Turkey arrests builders of collapsed high-rises
Dozens of contractors were detained over the weekend in Turkey, as anger grows over the consequences of the devastating earthquakes and the government vows to take action against construction negligence…
Podcast: Waterproof woes and Brisbane’s boom
The issue we raised last week rumbles on with experienced waterproofers claiming they are being driven out of the industry in NSW while engineers and builders line up to take…
Costs and delays behind renovation war of words
As we often say here, apartment living can be a minefield of unintended consequences. And it even sees battles in which neither of two diametrically opposed forces are wrong. It…
Podcast: A load of rubbish and advice for Jackie O
This week we look at how one of the greatest conveniences in apartment blocks could be not only costing you money but undermining efforts at recycling. The humble garbage chute…
Podcast: BBQs and secret committee meetings
A couple of issues popped on to the Flat Chat radar while we were off being festive. One was all about smoking on balconies which, if that wasn’t serious enough,…
Smoke drift battle exposes NCAT’s farcical flaws
The recent Sydney Morning Herald story about a couple who – at the third attempt – won a case to get their neighbours to stop smoking on their balcony may…