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This is a new occurrence where I live in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in a typically cheaply built 60s block of 36 units.

An owner wants to alter the configuration of their middle floor apartment (one above, one below) including knocking out part of a supposedly non-load bearing walls and adding an extra, tiny ensuite bathroom the other side of a new bathroom wall from the existing bathroom; thus adding to and moving plumbing. The plumbing in this building is always noisy.

They’ve managed to get an Extraordinary General Meeting called with a Special Resolution slated for approval, which will be able to be voted on electronically. There are no Strata Committee Meeting agenda items or minutes of this meeting being called. The Strata Manager is highly evasive.

There is, however, an ‘engineers report’ but with no company street address or ABN, just email and mobile and a P.O, Box number. There are supposedly architect’s plans where the scan and printouts are fuzzy and so, illegible.

There’s more. We are told the ‘owner’s mum’ works in planning at the local council and she says ‘no council approval is required’. 

A few long time owners are concerned. Notwithstanding the changes to the Act to make renovating easier: 1. We feel we shouldn’t be just taking their ‘say so’ that everything is kosher; we don’t trust them anyhow from a previous experience where they tried to pull a fast one. 2. We think local council approval may well be required. 3. At the very least we feel the names, credentials of the contractors should be in the paperwork and more details in the plans. 4. Maybe independent certification of some sort needs to be done.

Can a learned Flat Chat aficionado please tell us what we can do to make sure everything is above board?

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