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[Nibbles55]

Do I need body corporate permission to rewire a ground floor apartment? The existing wiring is on its last legs and can no longer be repaired. The lights will be rewired through the existing conduits in the walls and ceiling, but the electrician intends to rewire the power points from under the floorboards, meaning he will run wires along the joists in the underfloor area, which I guess is common property.

Part of the underfloor area is taken up by the communal laundry, the rest is a makeshift storage area where people have left old furniture and stuff over the years.

The Telstra cabling is already strung under the floor, for what it's worth.

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[Whale]

You have answered your own question — as the floor is Common Property and your electrician needs to fasten wires to it, you will need to obtain your Owners Corporation's consent before those works commence.

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[Jimmy-T]

Agreed – but if the wiring is faulty and/or dangerous, your OC should be paying for the rewiting.

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[Nibbles55]

Now I am confused. I thought the OC was only responsible for the power supply to the individual meters, and from then on it's owner's responsibility.

The reason the rewiring is necessary is because the existing wiring is old and some of the light switches and power points no longer work. The electrician made an emergency call-out a few months ago when the power died completely and he said the repair he did was a temporary measure only and rewiring was “strongly recommended”.

It's going to cost $3000 for the whole job, which would be a massive slug to the maintenance budget of the OC.

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[Jimmy-T]

Ooops, my bad!

 

You're right, generally speaking, electrical wiring that is only used for one lot is the responsibility of that lot owner but if the wiring in common property serves more than one lot it's the responsibility of the Owners Corp.

 

Sorry

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