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Topic
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As head of the strata committee, I received a quote from an owner with regard to their floor boards and perceived ventilation problems. Their builder has stated that there has been a drop in the boards and this may be due to rot in the floor bearers and joists but they need to make holes in the floorboards to investigate further- and then quote further.
The floorboards are not the original boards and have been newly laid by some previous owner. With that I do not know what alterations or additions were done to the original bearers and joists they attached the boards to. I can therefore not ascertain whether their problem is due to how the floor was laid by the previous owner or whether it’s the O.C. cost burden
My concern is the owner may want an entirely new frame laid and all new floorboards laid at the O.C. expense because they have to be removed to assess the joists and bearers.
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Replies
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The starting point is whether when the previous owner put down the floorboards whether the owners corporation put in an exclusive use by-law making the owner responsible for those floorboards and the works associated with them.
For example if a by-law was put in place at the time, then the question would be whether the the current issue is a result of those works – if they were and the by-law was clear enough, then it could be that the owner would be responsible for fixing it.
If there is no by-law and there are issues with the floor bearers and joists, on the face of it I would say that it is the owners corporation’s responsibility to fix the problem because the floor bearers and joists are common property.
If the owner is claiming that it is up to the owners corporation to fix the problem then one advantage you have is that the owner can’t just bring their own person in to do works. It is up to the owners corporation to bring their own expert in and investigate, and make a recommendation as to the works that are required. While that may sound like a pain in the neck (and it is, we have had to do that on a completely different type of problem), it means that the owners corporation is in control and the owner can’t just do whatever they like and give the bill to the owners corporation. To put it another way, the owner can’t have their cake and eat it and present the OC with a bill.
So as a preliminary I suggest you advise the owner in writing that the OC will get someone in to investigate and determine what needs to be done, they are not to undertake any works, and that the OC will not reimburse them for any works they do off their own bat.