@kiwipaul said:
I’m actually gobsmacked by some of these bizarre rules in NSW.Seems to me that any alterations you want to do you keep quite about them (saving yourself having to have a bylaw added), once alteration complete and it develops a fault you lodge a request with the Strata to fix it if it’s common property.
Common sense seems to have done a runner in NSW Strata.
You’re not alone in being gobsmacked but it’s not a rule, just a quirk in the law, a loophole that can be closed – if you’re aware of it.
As for doing work illegally and then when it breaks down, demanding that the Owners Corp fix it – that’s not going to happen.
What’s much more likely is that you will be instructed to return common property to its previous state and if you don’t do it, the OC will and then add the bill to your levies (as they are entitled to do).
The problem arises when the work is done, either without the OC’s knowledge or on a nod and wink basis (favoured by the old school who think by-laws are for wusses) and then the property is sold to an unwitting buyer.
‘Buyer beware’ in these cases is superseded by “Owners Corp take care”