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Our SP has an old, frail and potentially dangerous resident owner living on the top floor of the block. In the last twelve months she has had a fire in the kitchen due to falling asleep and not hearing the smoke alarm.
Previously, despite fire safety audits, it was discovered that a working fire alarm was not fitted, which was fixed by the Strata Committee.
The Strata Committee has been in contact with the only other living relative concerning this person.
What legal recourse do we have to prevent an accident or even a death or large fire at our block
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What about installing several smoke alarms at the Owner’s Corp expense? It doesn’t sound as if there would be much resistance from the owner. Simple battery-powered ones would be legal, if there was also a mains-backed alarm. Quick, cheap and simple to install – we’ll see if Granny can sleep with four of them going off at once.
None.
I tried to help an elderly owner who clearly had difficulties coping day to day.
I approached ACAT, the local social worker, police. They said that unless I was her doctor, carer or relative they could not intervene , nor even look, into her situation.
Very frustrating when I was concerned with the ladies well being.
She contracted pneumonia, went to hospital for treatment and the social worker there would not release her to anywhere but a nursing home.
Sadly there is very little you can do. A lady in the building next door to us was the same, it eventually came to a head when she set fire to the kitchen. Fortunately there were tradesmen working outside at the time and they put a hose through the window. This precipitated her move to a nursing home.