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We have a waterproofing issue on our two balconies. Two quotes have come in around $40k for them both to be fixed and SM has sent onto the committee for review. This has been over a month now with no responses to the SM. Somewhat lucky Sydney is in drought but when the next storm hits, water will bubble up through the floorboards! Does the committee have responsibility to respond in a timely manner? There is funds available for these repairs. What would be my next step please?
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Send a request to the committee to take action on the repairs. If they ignore it for two months or refuse, you can take them to NCAT under Section 232 (2) “Failure to exercise a function”. If you have already sent an official repairs request, them you only have to wait a month before taking action (mediation followed by orders at NCAT)
And you could just explain that is your plan, which may put a rocket under them.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Presumably the quotes were sent in response to a previous request so you could argue that the clock started ticking when that went in. Asking for information (quotes) is not the same as making a decision. So, in my humble, non-legal opinion, you could take the timing from the point when you first asked for the problem to be fixed.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
Jimmy, it’s been six months since I asked the Strata Committee and Owners Corporation at a recent meeting that ponding of rainwater on my balcony on the common property floor be repaired. The OC, including the members of the SC, have not approved my motion. In addition, I’ve been told by the SC that I’m changing common property and therefore has nothing to do with Section 106 of the SSMA 2015, which mandates that the OC has a duty to maintain and repair common property.
Where to now?
Are you changing common property or just repairing it. Are they referring to the repair as a change. Or have you changed it and discovered the CP was faulty.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
I believe, from quotes received, it needs repairing. In others words, laying and grading new concrete on the slab so that pooling rainwater drains efficiently away to nearby downpipes. New waterproofing paint will then be applied.
I haven’t dared touch it; besides its fenced off and I could risk certain death if I climbed over the fence as the boundary wall of the building is only 600mms or so high.
If you haven’t made any changes yourself, then you appear to be talking about a building defect (because that water should drain away) or a blockage of some kind. Either way, it’s the OC’s responsibility to fix it. If the meeting at which you mentioned it was minutes (ie “formal”) then you have given them ample time. I’d do what was suggested to the OP – let them know you are proceeding to NCAT based on their failure to maintain common property. The first step at NCAT is mediation. You may be able to help your performance in mediation by getting a couple of quotes. That way, everyone knows the $$ involved and you’re all mediating over the same amount. Make sure any outcome includes a date by which the repair will be started.
- Have the balconies inspected by a waterproofing expert
- If defects exist then have the waterproofer prepare an expert report
- Ask the expert for a Scotts schedule
- A chronology of events is helpful for mediation
- File a claim with Fair Trading
- Attend mediation
- File a claim for the cost of repairs to the balconies + internal unit damage.
Thanks so much everyone for your guidance. So do as Philcon suggests. Request NCAT to order the OC to pay for the repairs for which I have received an expert report and for the amount I paid for that expert report. Is that possible? And wouldn’t it be better to get two expert reports? However, there is one quote that the SC refuses to send me.
Meanwhile, the ponding worsens by the day; it’s now eating through the waterproof membrane.
How about interim orders? I have been asking to have the problem fixed since May last year. What about Section 232(2) Failure to exercise a function?
If ponded water eats your waterproof membrane, that membrane is NOT waterproof by definition.
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