- This topic has 3 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 3 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
I live in a 50+ Sydney unit block, with 10 garden units. All 50+ units share the same water meter, other than a separate meter for common property areas – making for a total of 2 water meters currently.
Two owners in a mid-floor are unhappy that they are subsiding the water bills for the 10 garden units in this way. They are suggesting that we should install separate water meters for each of the 10 garden units so upper floor residents don’t have to “subsidise” their garden watering bills anymore.
How does this work? Via a Special Resolution for a by-law? Pursuant to which Section of the Strata Act?
And what if the garden unit owners will not consent to it? Do they have an argument that if they are going to be separately “water-metered” then the most equitable thing would be for All units to have their own water meter? I sense this will be an unhappy and expensive business.
What do the Flatchat experts think?
-
Replies
-
Do the unit owners with gardens keep the gardens in good nick? Do they enhance the appearance of the building? Perhaps the common burden of the water bill should be seen in the light of maintaining the common amenity.
Are you absolutely sure the gardens belong to the garden units? Are the garden areas on those unit titles? Or might they actually be common property that over the years has been fenced and sort of made a part of the garden unit?
Just out of curiousity, are you in Sydney? Why on earth do you need to put drinking water on your gardens? Doesn’t it fall from the sky pretty regularly?
Information here on how to change (add) a by law:
You’ll need 75% of owners. It seems that numerically the apartment dwellers outnumber the garden units, so you may get that. Unless the garden units are large in comparison to the other units and they may add up to a greater “unit entitlement”.
This document tells you a lot about installing meters:
You might like to get a quote from a plumber about how much this will cost; that may put the complainers back in their box.
I agree, the garden unit dwellers may have something to say. After all, some may be water misers with water-wise native gardens; their water usage may pale in comparison to the guy in the apartment with a hygiene fetish who showers 4 times a day!
nyonyakay – In addition to the valid points raised by Tess (post 2), the meters that you’re contemplating would be classified as “check meters” (i.e. downstream of the main supply meters) and so Sydney Water won’t read them, and your Owners Corporation cannot legally issue anything that purports to be an account or invoice for whatever water usage they may record.
So as well-intentioned as your motives may be, unless a Multi-Unit Development is provided with pipework to accommodate the separate metering of Lots and means to convey usage data (e.g wirelessly) to a central location at the time of its construction, then the retrofitting of individual meters to those Lots and/or the use of the water consumption data then recorded is not logistically possible.
Perhaps another matter or two to consider. Do the units with gardens have a higher unit entitlement than those without? Then those unit owners with gardens may feel that they are entitled to higher water usage to compensate for higher levies. And do the complaining owners on the upper floors benefit by the improved views over the gardens, when they don’t have to bother watering them or maintain the plants therein?
DaveB