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I support all the comments above, but I do wonder about one thing. Did you move into your flat from a free-standing house, as many downsizers do? Noise levels in medium density are inevitably not the same as on your old quarter-acre block.
Good point, JT!
I imagine that the SC would –
‘Resolve to purchase and install X number of planter boxes of a size x by y by z in the positions indicated in the accompanying diagram, also X number of bags of concrete with which to fill the planter boxes and X number of plastic plants to be placed therein. Total price for the above, plus delivery estimated at $xyz.
Your Strata Committee proposes a Working Bee on x/y/2019 to carry out these works.’
I would suggest lining the boxes with plastic and dumping the bags in whole. Then punch holes in the bags and pour in water – this will make it a lot easier to extract the set concrete if it was ever decided to do so.
I’m assuming that the SC has the authority to spend this kind of money. If not, it’s time for an EGM.
does the committee have to be unanimous or in majority when deciding outside a meeting?
The Committee needs to have formal vote and have it recorded in the Minutes. The Committee would be wise to circularise owners to explain the issues and proposed solutions. I am guessing that the Chair is not the only one to see a problem.
Plants? Glue?
A certain Swedish multinational homewares concern sells ‘plants’ made of plastic. We own two – they’re very convincing and don’t need watering. Fill the planters with concrete, stick in the ‘plants’ and add a few handfuls of pinebark to cover the concrete. Now there’s no need to glue them down – you’ll need a forklift to move them.
I take it, SC, that you fully admit the points I have raised and also the general thrust of my post since you did not attempt to contradict them. Good. Thank you.
To address what you did say – there was no hard information available from anyone connected with the sale as to how the arrangement would work out in practice. That sort of information is only available post facto from experience and sources like Flatchat.
No-one who takes the plunge in the property market has any guarantee that everything will be just exactly as one would wish. Seek the perfect deal and you’ll rent forever.
Great work, Jimmy! I hang out for your weekly smorgasbord. I ticked the box that asked if I wanted to be notified if my post was replied to, but didn’t get one. Hmm?
Embedded networks?!? How crook are they?? We moved into a new 106-unit block in Sydney in early 2018. The nice young man said that it had an embedded network, but that was a good thing because the operator bought electricity at wholesale rates and would sell it on to us cheaply – the contract guaranteed cheaper power than any other that was commercially available.
When we booked the day to move in, we were sent a contract via e-mail to sign and return. If we didn’t sign and return, the power and hot water would not be turned on and we could sit in the dark! We signed.
The situation now is that the roof is totally covered with solar panels that are NOT common property but belong to the energy supplier. His (or her) workpersons have triggered three false fire alarms in six weeks. The panels power the lifts/fans etc. during the day and any excess is sold back into the grid, to the profit of their owner.
It is not really possible to accurately measure the cost of energy to any one unit, as the system supplies electricity and gas and charges unit owners to heat their hot water for them. Disentangling these prices is very difficult.
The alternative to the current arrangements is to install a whole new power and gas supply, which would cost many thousands of $$$. The meters, valves and piping all belong to the supplier.
To be strictly fair, the gas that comes out of the bayonet fitting is a lot cheaper than the gas that heats the stove! We bought a gas heater and have been pleasantly warm all winter.
My point is that we have no effective choice as to who supplies us and how much we have to pay.
There are tap washers available from any large hardware store that are designed to minimise water hammer. Instead of being a flat round disc they are C-shaped in section view. Users must also learn to turn off the taps very gently to avoid crushing them against the seat. I have used these myself, and they had a definite beneficial effect though they aren’t as good as firmly restraining the vibrating pipes with pipe saddles.
How’s this for a suggestion? When we bought our unit, we had a choice of handing over a deposit of $73,000 (which could have disappeared if the builder went broke) or buying a Deposit Bond for $3,000. If you know how these work, skip the next paragraph.
Deposit Bonds replace putting up a deposit for real estate. The Deposit Bond company puts up the money for you, for which you pay them a non-refundable fee of a few thousand dollars. When you settle, they get their money back. If you default, however (if you can’t raise the purchase price, say) they lose their money – and they come looking for you to pay them.
The same basic system could be used to guarantee against faulty construction. Instead of the builder setting aside 2% of the build, he or she could pay a relatively small amount for a bond equivalent to, say 8% of the build. The bond issuer would have to pay for rectification work, and would then pursue the builder for compensation. Bond-issuing companies have the dollars and the legal muscle to get their money back.
As regards the butterfly theory, perhaps this explanation of the phenomenon will help. A soldier in the German Army stands in a trench in 1918. A bullet zips over his head, just missing him. Now, if the machine that loaded the gunpowder into the cartridge that fired that bullet had loaded two grains less gunpowder, the bullet would have travelled at a sightly lower trajectory and gone through that soldier’s head, killing him. The soldier was a certain Corporal A. Hitler, who survived the war and went on to be rather famous.
The point of the story is that it is possible, in some circumstances, for very minor actions to have major ramifications down the track.
The frog in the kettle? See it every day.
Great column, Jimmy T!