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In my block, and some others I have visited, there is a “gas meter room” similar to the electrical switch room, which should have controls to isolate supply to individual units.
Who owns these washing machines and dryers? Are they common property, but you have to plug them into your unit’s power point in the laundry to use them?
If they are CP, who services them? Are these odours the result of the lint filters not being cleaned out regularly, or other lack of maintenance? If the filters are not being cleaned, this is also creating a well known fire risk.
Without intending to be flippant, perhaps you could take a bucket of hot water from your unit and put it into the washing machine. Most current detergents work quite well in cold or warm water anyway.
There is a clause in the standard by-laws that allows an owner to install “…a safety device to protect a lot against intruders or to improve safety within a lot”, seemingly without OC permission. Devices which prevent entry of animals or offer protection to children are also exempt.
Mightn’t a roller door come within this definition?
Reading through the information released by various “interested” bodies on this subject is becoming very confusing. Some sites refer to “windows” (suggesting all windows), others restrict it to “bedroom windows”. Another site suggested sliding balcony doors would also need to limited.
Common sense says that if you are driving a car and collide with a stationary vehicle, regardless of whether it is parked legally or not, you would be responsible. If there is insufficient room, you have the option of not trying to go past it.
(Perhaps an “untraceable” accident to the offending vehicle would deter the offender.)
Would those requirements of Sect 65A apply if an owner replaced carpeted floors with timber?
@JimmyT said:
So if you were determined to go down this highly ill-advised route, the way to proceed would be to quietly decide how you are going to get access and who is going to carry out this evil plan. Then, if a party gets out of hand, person or persons unknown can flip the switch, lock the utility cupboard door, and go back to bed.
Who’s to know that the combination of a stereo system, lights, phone chargers and spillage didn’t overload the system and trigger the emergency isolation trip switch?
Most units will have a sub-board within the unit itself, which is designed to trip out if there is an overload or earth leakage within the unit, rather than the main switches (which have higher ratings) doing so.
Manually shutting off a circuit breaker leaves it in a different position than if it trips out due to overload, so it would be easy to tell if it had been interfered with.
In our block, the car spaces have individual lights with switches. These are wired directly back to the main switchboard, with a dedicated circuit breaker, for each unit, rather than the sub-board in the unit. A few spaces have had power points installed using the lighting wiring. I did have a problem a few years back with another resident using my power point to do some work on his car, but when I explained the situation he readily apologised and compensated me.
Perhaps Scott13 could consider buying a battery booster pack, which he could connect to his batteries occasionally to recharge them. He can recharge the booster from a power point in his unit.
There are no laws which generally prohibit the taking of photos in public places (ask Nicole Kidman) although there may be some limitations of what you can do with them.
Just google “public photography in NSW (or whatever state you are in)” and you will find lots of legal opinions on the matter.
If this incident had a occurred on the footpath outside the building, would you consider holding the council responsible?
It is about time agents also started checking the condition of Common Property when tenants leave buildings. All too often they just dump all their unwanted rubbish (furniture, appliances, clothing, etc) anywhere convenient and it is left to the OC to pick up the tab for cleaning up.
Have a look at this factsheet-14-boarders-and-lodgers.
I rented out a spare room to uni students for a number of years (my apartment was quite close) on a “share accommodation” basis.
I drew up my own “Residential Share Agreement” which detailed topics such as
1. How rent was to be paid, and amount
2. Duration of agreement, and terms of termination
3. Areas of the property included
4. Inclusions/exclusions in the rental amount, and use of owner’s property (appliances, etc).
5. Cleaning responsibilities
6. Tenant’s visitor restrictions, compliance with Strata By-Laws.
7. Determination of splitting costs of utilities (I stipulated a fixed weekly amount to avoid hassles of “fair share” disputes at billing time.
8. Personal details of tenant such as home address, family contacts, passport/visa details (for o/s students), previous accommodation, etc
The document made it quite clear that it was NOT a residential lease, and that requirements of the Act (bond, etc) did not apply. I called it a “Security Deposit”.
There was no need to go to a RE Agent. If you want students, most colleges/Uni’s have an office where you can register your details and you will get referrals. Students tend to be more stable and reliable than itinerant backpackers.
A properly maintained cylinder should have no problem coping with normal ambient temperatures if kept in a ventilated area, lots of cylinders can be found stored outside buildings. They should be fitted with a safety valve that will vent off surplus gas if the pressure does get too high, but again provided there is ventilation the gas will dissipate without causing a danger. If the venting gas did catch fire, it would not pose a risk to the tank itself.
The only real risk of a tank exploding is if it gets caught in an external fire, and the heat is sufficient to weaken the structure of the tank.
I am another non-accountant, but my understanding is that I am part of the OC (it is not a third party entity) and jointly liable (to the extent of my UEs) for its debts. I simply contribute to a pool of money to pay for my share of the expenses (which will most probably have a GST component – I don’t see why I would have to pay GST twice on the same bill).
I have a credit card which pays my bills, and I reimburse the CC company at regular intervals and I do not get charged GST for that.
Could Missy please explain where my logic is failing?