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Thanks, for responding.
UberOwner, I subsequently found someone saying that schemes like this are not uncommon in Victoria.
If my understanding about this scheme in NSW is correct, then if it was decided to replace doors on more than one lot, it might be possible to get SM on behalf of OC to arrange it. However, the quote and invoice would have to give separate cost for each lot, and the owners would contribute according to that. I’m not sure how it would be done if it was expensive work that could cause cash-flow trouble – maybe the owners would have to pay up-front. That did not seem to happen for the relatively inexpensive painting that we saw. We sighted some quotes addressed to the SM for much more expensive roof repairs, but unfortunately don’t have the accounts for that period to see how it was done.
I don’t see why an individual owner could not just get their door replaced, subject to not running foul of any by-law, like the usual NSW model “appearance of lot” one, which they have adopted.
The capital works portion of the levy is indeed low. That was one of the first things we noticed, before we understood the CP situation.
We were also surprised to see that a request to install solar panels sailed through a general meeting with no reference to a common property rights by-law (they don’t have such a by-law). That made more sense when we realised that the lot roof is not CP. Strictly speaking, they might be turning a bit of a blind eye there though, because solar panel installation usually requires at least some work on the main switchboard, which is CP.
Perhaps neglected maintenance would be covered by “appearance of lot”. Dunno, I’ll have to think about that and maybe read through the by-laws again with my now-changed CP viewpoint.
Jimmy, sorry I didn’t want to mention the exact number of lots, but it is more than ten, so no, not a two-lot scheme.
I only mentioned AI because I took the response as a bit of a clue that such schemes are a bit rare, to the extent that AI confidently declared that they don’t exist at all in NSW. Actually I have close to zero confidence in AI. Every day I see that AS (Artificial Stupidity) is generally easier to achieve.
Thanks again, still more for me to consider.