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I’m the Secretary / Treasurer of the Strata concerned.

Here’s the issue, sent in an email to my fellow SC members and our Strata Manager 2 weeks ago, prompted by an invoice being received for repairs to an owners Air Con unit located on Common Property.

There 70+ units in the strata, approximately half of which have air con condensers on their courtyard / balcony, and half are located on Common Property – in the garage area.

It appears to have fallen on deaf ears so far as no-one has responded, other than 1 guy suggesting that I see what Flat Chat has to say on the matter. I have pored over the forums but can’t find any posts relevant to this situation.

CURRENT SITUATION

The following is an extract from the minutes of an Executive Committee meeting held on 12^th April 2010:-

“Air Conditioning Units in Garages”

(Strata manager’s name – removed to protect the guilty) has confirmed that maintenance of condenser units located in common property is the responsibility of the Owners Corporation. All other units are the responsibility of each owner”

There are 3 problems with this interpretation, as follows:-

1. According to this NSW Govt website It’s actually incorrect. It is the owner’s responsibility to maintain their own Air Conditioning unit, regardless of where the unit is located. The relevant item under the heading:- 

“Lot owner responsibilities for maintenance, repair or replacement” is:-
“3. Electrical:      (a) air conditioning systems, whether inside or outside of a lot, which serve only that lot”

2. It is discriminatory in that some owners would benefit financially at the expense of those owners whose Air Con. Units are situated within their lot. In fact the latter owners not only have to pay for their own Air Con. maintenance, but also have to contribute towards the cost of other owners’ Air Con. maintenance.

3. No budget provision has ever been made for this. This has not been a major concern up until now, but it will start to impact over the coming years given the age of the units.

4. Because of the budget, and therefore levy, impact this really should have been put to an AGM for a decision by the Owners.

 

THE OPTIONS

1. CONTINUE WITH THE STATUS QUO

Given the problems identified with the current situation (above) I don’t believe that this should be considered as a viable option. Because of the Levy / budget implications I believe that we would have to specifically advise the owners at the AGM of the situation. I suspect that there would be some serious objections voiced, and that it would probably not be supported.

2. THE OWNERS CORPORATION TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL AIR CON. UNITS

Assuming an average cost of $5000 to repair / replace every unit over the next 5 years it would cost approx. $375,000. In order to allow for this amount the budget would require an annual levy increase of approx. $1000 p.a. for each owner.  I don’t believe that this would need a By Law to put into effect (happy to stand corrected), we would however need to specifically draw the owners’ attention to this when presenting the budget for approval. If the owners do not approve it we would revert to option (3) below, and ensure that the decision (and potential financial impact on individual owners) is minuted.

3. HAVE ALL OWNERS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN UNITS

 This complies with the relevant legislation / regulations, and as such would not require a By-Law. We would, of course, need to advise all owners of this change, which could be done in the covering letter which goes out with the AGM Agenda.

 

RECOMMENDATION

I would recommend option 3.

What do Flat-chatters think?

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