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  • in reply to: Manager won’t answer phone #84062
    chesswood
    Flatchatter
    Chat-starter

      By emergency, I mean anything that must be done almost immediately.

      For instance, suppose the plumber is to fix the bathroom on Monday and the tiler is booked for Tuesday. The plumber can’t make it on Monday so someone has to call the tiler ASAP and negotiate. Obviously you can’t co-ordinate works like this if you never answer your phone. Yet I’m continually told that getting jobs done should be left to the strata manager.

      in reply to: Who pays for Internet upgrade? #83209
      chesswood
      Flatchatter

        The OC pays. NBN charges them $275 multiplied by the number of units. That’s all units – NBNCo won’t connect less.

        The OC may choose to raise the money by a special levy. If so, the contributions are in proportion to unit entitlements. Provided the OC is better at arithmetic than it is at strata law, the average might be $275.

        The motion will need to be expressed as a special resolution and will need at least 75% by value of votes cast.This is because it seeks to vary the common property.

        in reply to: Levies shock: the crippling cost of compliance #82980
        chesswood
        Flatchatter

          I can see two problems with the D&BPAct. The first is that someone decided that building consultants were part of the problem and should be eliminated. So no provision was made for the registration of building consultants even though some of them had been helping strata plans for decades. The work they did had to be placed with engineers or architects who had no knowledge of particular buildings that might have been using the same consultant for ten years.

          Another problem with the Act is that it assumes that unqualified residents are incapable of making long-term decisions correctly. False – many buildings have long-term owners who well understand the issues with the building and trust the tradesmen they have used many times before. Tradies who take short cuts needn’t expect return business nor personal recommendations.

          1 user thanked author for this post.
          TD
          in reply to: Votes counted per lot or based on entitlement? #82585
          chesswood
          Flatchatter

            If you’re trying to support one side or the other, note that a NO vote is worth three times a YES vote. So if your block has units of roughly equal entitlement and eight of them attend the meeting, just three NO votes will kill the motion.

            Take to the meeting a smartphone or pad programmed to add up the votes by entitlement; there’s at least one website for that.

            in reply to: No money to pay for balcony repairs #82261
            chesswood
            Flatchatter

              One problem with bankrupt owners is that the OC is an unsecured creditor and stands behind secured creditors like the owner’s bank. Are you sure you’ll get 100 cents for each dollar you’re owed? You’re better off when the property is sold to someone who can cover the arrears.

              in reply to: Owner wants fast internet connection #81865
              chesswood
              Flatchatter
              Chat-starter

                The site is https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/upgrades/more-fibre However, what you see there depends on the address that you must type in.

                The OC must request an upgrade; no individual owner can do so. I would like to see clearly canvassed:

                • that contracts with any service provider [see the list at e.g. https://www.whistleout.com.au/Broadband ] remain on foot. However, some new equipment may be necessary in units to connect to the new NBN.
                • what standard the installation is done to. Will there be new conduits carrying fibres all over the walls?
                • what costs unit owners will face
                • what happens to existing services during the installation period (about three months, apparently).
                • that this is a change to infrastructure which in NSW strata will require a super majority to approve
                • how much say the OC has in the detailed design which will be prepared once an application has been lodged
                • that matters such as availability, static I.P. address, speeds and latency should be discussed with your service provider
                in reply to: Committee not responding to repairs request #79258
                chesswood
                Flatchatter

                  If ponded water eats your waterproof membrane, that membrane is NOT waterproof by definition.

                  in reply to: Our neighbours are spying on us #79150
                  chesswood
                  Flatchatter

                    If in NSW, start by looking through the NSW Surveillance Devices Act – https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2007-064

                    and then write to your strata plan’s secretary referring to the Act and asking whether the cameras were installed legally, noting that you never consented to all the setup.

                    in reply to: Tree in Easement – Common Property or Not #79071
                    chesswood
                    Flatchatter

                      I’d guess from what you say that the land behind your place is common property. An adjacent land owner has a right to drain water over that lane. This right is called an easement. The easement does not convey any other rights; for example, the adjacent owner can’t build a shed on your land.

                      If there’s a tree on the land that interferes with the drainage, the adjacent owner can insist that steps be taken to keep the drainage working. Perhaps that requires the tree to be removed. However, your local council may have made a tree preservation order and you might need permission to remove the tree.

                      I’d also guess that any work required on the tree will be at your OC’s expense. But it would be nice for the adjacent owner to allow temporary access via the land next door if that would help.

                      in reply to: Secretary blocking critical common property repairs #78531
                      chesswood
                      Flatchatter

                        In NSW, functions of the chair are set out in section 42 of the SSMA. They don’t include over-riding the secretary whose functions including giving notice of each meeting specifying the business etc etc.

                        If you use your right as an owner to request a meeting to consider the retaining wall, the secretary can either do so or not, in which case you go to NCAT. See section 106 about duty of the OC to maintain common property and section 126 about relevant orders.

                        Your OC may need a new secretary soon. Decide now whether you’re interested in the job.

                        in reply to: Two SPs treated as one as bills mount in older block #78451
                        chesswood
                        Flatchatter

                          What do the strata plans say? I doubt that their areas overlap although they may well adjoin somewhere. How you administer them now isn’t relevant to the legal situation.

                          in reply to: Do we need to test our water for Legionella? #78365
                          chesswood
                          Flatchatter

                            What’s the temperature in the tanks? There’s no risk of legionella if the water is kept really hot.

                            in reply to: Water dripping from air con onto my balcony #78334
                            chesswood
                            Flatchatter

                              You may find that your local council has a policy that airconditioners must not drip water like that. Call them and ask.

                              in reply to: Smart meter installation stymied #78245
                              chesswood
                              Flatchatter

                                Smart meters have a computer and some other electronic equipment in them that, unless carefully shielded, radiate miniscule amounts of non-ionising electro-magnetic energy at various frequencies. Some types communicate by sending low-power RF signals along the electricity supply cables. Many can be read electronically with hand-held devices, again using low-power RF signals. Mobile phones give off much more RF energy than smart meters yet people willingly hold them close to their heads.

                                NSW readers should note that moving the meters (as distinct from updating them) would be a change to the infrastructure and would require passing as a special resolution at a general meeting with not more than one-quarter  by value of the votes cast against it.

                                in reply to: Smart meter installation stymied #78227
                                chesswood
                                Flatchatter

                                  Just to clarify, does “on the external wall of unit 1” mean that inspecting or altering them requires access into unit 1?

                                  Also, have the owners of unit 1 indicated what type of radiation emanates from smart meters but not mechanical meters?

                                Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 129 total)