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QUESTION: How can an owner’s corporation retrospectively approve major improvements (work) to the common property?
G Meadows, Senior Member, Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal in a recent NCAT matter said: “Again with respect, I agree with the adjudicator’s doubts, and in my opinion there is no power in the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 permitting an owners corporation to retrospectively ratify work undertaken pursuant to section 65A of the Act.” Wang v Owners Corporation SP 69174 (Strata & Community Schemes) [2010] NSWCTTT 172 (29 April 2010)
ANSWER: The full answer to this lies in the rest of the adjudication referred to. The member referred to made this statement bearing in mind this would apply if there were no other conditions. But the fact is that the Owners Corp had received fire orders to install a fire door in a corridor between two apartment entrance doors. They went ahead and installed the door then one of the adjoining apartment owners objected.
The Owners Corp held a general meeting and approved the door by special resolution and the owner objected again on the grounds that the Owners Corp had voted retrospectively to install the door.
The full findings of the hearing basically say that the Owners Corp had more of a responsibility to follow fire ordinance orders than they did to follow the letter of strata law. so, the answer to the question can you approve major changes to common property retrospectively, then the answer, is yes, if there is no other choice.
And the member found that it would have been unreasonable to have ordered they OC to remove the door, knowing that they would simply have had another meeting, approved the door then replaced it.
I’m paraphrasing here but that’s the gist of it.
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