#20274
Austman
Flatchatter
Chat-starter

    Thanks.  I’ve already quoted that part of the Unit Tiles Act to the OC manager.

    The OC manager is pointing out the “if load-bearing” condition and has stated that the sliding doors would have to be load-bearing to be considered an OC responsibility.  I suspect they are not load-bearing although they do form a complete (glass) “wall” between the interior living room and the exterior courtyard (or balcony). 

    Being an external window/door, I would have thought that alone would make it, at least partly, an OC responsibility. 

    It might depend on how the boundary lines are drawn.  I note the advice below from VBCS (for Victoria, but the interpretation is the important part):

    Q: Our balcony door is damaged and won’t close properly.

    A: If the boundary of the lot extends past the wall to the edge of the balcony, the door will be within the owners lot and the responsibility of the owner to maintain.

    I’ve not seen the boundary plan for the unit but on other plans that I have seen there’s usually a line drawn between a lot’s interior and exterior parts .  Even if that line exists, I understand that “Median” is the default boundary division in the ACT (and probably applies here as the unit was built in the 1980s).  So that would mean the OC and the owner are 50/50 responsible for lot perimeter walls, windows, doors unless if they are load-bearing?

    Tricky!