John said…..the new legislation forces all schemes to approve such routine matters by a special resolution which is a huge impost on all owners, including those in schemes which have dealt with this issue in an effective, professional and trouble free manner for years.
John – despite the fact that this topic is becoming somewhat of a novelette, clearly my communicative ability is falling short and so I just have to try one last time to explain my core opinion points being that:
- The current Legislation prescribes that any renovation works that an Owners Corporation (O/C) or an individual Owner may propose that involves an addition, alteration, or the erecting of a new structure on the Common Property may only be consented by way of a special resolution at a General Meeting. So Executive Committees (E/C) cannot currently make decisions of that type, and under the bathroom renovation scenario that you reference, any consent to that by an E/C would have no greater standing than the proverbial “wink and a nod”, and would additionally leave the O/C responsible for the on-going maintenance and repair of all common areas within the Owner’s renovation due to no Special By-Law to the contrary being concurrently resolved at a General Meeting.
- In addition to the proposed Legislation relaxing the consent procedure (above) for some minor renovation proposals by Owners (good!), it still provides an E/C with the ability to put a special resolution to a General Meeting of the O/C in order to have a generic Special By-Law (SBL) put in place to cover the renovation of wet-areas such as bathrooms throughout the Plan, that may well embody some of the conditions that you’ve mentioned. So to reiterate, under the Legislation as now proposed that’s just ONE special resolution, not one for each an every renovation as you seem to suggest, because once the SBL’s registered the E/C can provide conditional consent to all future renovations that fall within its scope!
- One last point – contrary to your statement that a special resolution (to a bathroom renovation) is the same mechanism that’s required to gain the O/C’s consent to wind up a Plan, that’s in fact the final step in what will be a very detailed and thorough process for the latter, and so your analogy in that regard a little misleading.
Anyway that’s all from me John, because for among other things, the Legislation will almost certainly proceed to Law this June and 12 months hence may be a better time to again debate its application.