- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
I’m hoping you can clarify something for me. There was a recent Flat Chat column titled “The 21 new strata laws all NSW apartment residents need to know”
Item 20 on that list:
Renovations: Current laws could prevent you hammering a nail into a common property wall without getting a by-law approved. The new regulations separate renovations into cosmetic, minor and major. The first is simply a case of notifying the committee, the second only requires approval by a vote of the committee (not a general meeting) and the last – usually involving structural changes – still requires a special resolution at a general meeting.
I am an apartment resident and wanted to be clear about the rules so followed your link in the article to The Strata Schemes Management Act (2015). The following from the Act seems to offer conflicting information:
110 Minor renovations by owners
The owner of a lot in a strata scheme may carry out work for the purposes of minor renovations to common property in connection with the owner’s lot with the approval of the owners corporation given by resolution at a general meeting. The approval may be subject to reasonable conditions imposed by the owners corporation and cannot be unreasonably withheld by the owners corporation.
I would be grateful if you could confirm whether “minor” works can be approved by the committee or need to have approval of the owners corporation given by resolution at a general meeting.
-
Replies
-
Yes but, no but …
OK, in writing that article I skated over one procedural step which is that the Owners Corp can put a by-law in place that allows the committee to approve minor renovations on behalf of the owners corp. Many schemes would have that as a matter of course.
And bear in mind that the owners in general meeting can still reverse or rescind decsions made on its behalf by the committee.
This is what the Fair Trading handbook Strata Living says:
The owners corporation can delegate approval for minor renovations to the strata committee by passing a by-law to permit this. The owners corporation can also make a by-law to define specific types of work as being ‘cosmetic’ or ‘minor’ renovations. This is as long as it doesn’t conflict with the categories of renovation as defined in the Act. For example, waterproofing would fall into the category of major renovations. The owners corporation could not decide that this is a minor renovation.
So you would need the by-law to be in place to avoid a general meeting but if you were going to have the GM, I would put the by-law on the agenda too, just for future reference.
If you want to be alerted when anyone replies to your posts or responds to this topic, please register and login, then you will be able to subscribe to the topic. 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. NB: Longer threads may spill over to additional pages - look for the numbers on the bottom right, under the last post.