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Good morning,
I made a request at an AGM to install down lights in my top floor apartment in NSW.
This request was made as the ceiling is common property & the electrical wiring above in the roof area is also common property.
I agreed to all future repairs & maintenance to these lights would be mine.
The request was rejected as I do not wish to use the strata plans electrician to complete the work, I wish to use my own suitably qualified electrician as he is cheaper.
Can an OC dictate that I use an electrician of their choosing?
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If you fit lights that don’t go through the ceiling, you could avoid the bother and have the benefit of not creating gaps in the insulation, assuming there is good insulation. There are good designs that are close fitted to but not through the ceiling.
Can an OC dictate that I use an electrician of their choosing?
No. They can only insist that you use a competent qualified electrician who has all the appropriate insurances. However, your strata manager might say there is a cost attached to confirming they are accredited so it might be easier and cheaper (for you) just to go with their guy. Sounds like a good case for getting competitive quotes.
Also, I’m not convinced the ceiling is common property if its suspended. Our strata scheme, desperate to cover its backside after it gave dubious permission for a ceiling’s removal, argues that the ceiling was, in fact, a horizontal, non-load-bearing wall and therefore could be removed without a by-law.
This is one of those cases where I would be tempted jut to get the work done and let the strata committee prove that you had done something wrong. Not that I’m recommending that … no, no, no. But if it was me …
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