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30 feet is a lot more than 6 metres.
We suffered a comparable trespass once – the strata plan next door put up a high dividing fence depriving us of pleasant views into their garden. Unfortunately, they built the fence 150mm our side the boundary and wholly on our land! I sold my lot soon after that so I don’t know whether the fence got moved.
Of course it is but the agreement is subject to relevant law. It’s apparently intended to minimise the agent’s liability but recognises that liability may still exist. Look at 6.5 which says the other clauses apply to the extent permitted by law. What happens in a particular case depends on the facts of that case. No two cases will be exactly the same.
If you don’t attend general meetings in person or by proxy, you won’t get much sympathy on this website or in Tribunal hearings.
Although I’m not in Victoria, I’d say of course you can meet anywhere, any time, on no notice, unannounced and to discuss any topic. However, you can only make any decisions that bind the OC if you adhere to prescribed procedures.
As for the mess of emails, is there a manager you can depute to deal with them?
Haven’t heard of it anywhere else bar the odd dissenter who soon swings back. You’re plain unlucky. Be careful who you take to court. Make sure they can afford to pay otherwise bankruptcy proceedings could result badly for you – you would be an unsecured creditor.
Was your NSW strata plan registered before the 1975 changes. If it was, windows are private property.
Please clarify whether “have agreed to … by-law” means you’ve resolved it. If so, doesn’t the new by-law specify the terms?
It would help if a few more MPs (and tribunal members) had experienced a couple of years as secretary of a strata plan. While we’re waiting for that to happen, I suggest we need more control of the insurance industry and possibly the establishment of a government-run insurance office like we used to have in NSW which would ensure some competition for strata insurance.
In our case, they offered 6 months’ cover (for the same premium we paid last year for 12 months) and specified a repair program they want us to begin before they renew further. They think our building is dilapidated. If only they’d care to come and inspect they’d see that it’s not dilapidated.
Are you in NSW? When was your building constructed? When was the strata plan registered?
There’s a newish search facility which seems to work (although the older site flags it as beta version) at
https://verify.licence.nsw.gov.au/home/DBP
and the old one still doesn’t work so perhaps it will be replaced by the beta version.
There’s a facility at https://www.onegov.nsw.gov.au/PublicRegister/#/publicregister/search/DBP which should give you a list of practitioners who might suit your requirements. The tip suggests you could search for John Smith or by licence number etc.
However, searching with words like Sydney, Building, Remedial, Architect, Waterproofer etc do not return any matches.
Has anyone had success with this search facility?
The document was an email to me from Building Confidence Response a.k.a. the Building and Construction Policy Team which is apparently the organ of the NSW government responsible for championing the D+BP Act:
I appreciate the concerns you have raised around the application of the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (DBP Act) in relation to remedial building work. The Department is currently working with representatives of the remedial industry to provide information and guidance in relation to the application of the DBP reforms and address issues with implementation. Your feedback will inform this work.
In the meantime, I’d like to highlight that there is some building work which is exempt from the application of the DBP Act. This means that the work can be undertaken and the obligations requiring registered design practitioners and registered building practitioners to do the work and make compliance declarations do not apply. The full list of exemptions can be found in clause 13 of the DBP Regulation. Apart from the waterproofing exemption, which only applies to work on a single unit in an apartment building, not to the common areas and not to work involving multiple units in the building, there is also an exemption where the work involved is valued under $5,000. In the example you’ve provided, if the value of the work is $3,000, then the DBP Act does not apply. The work may be carried out without triggering the obligations under the DBP Act.
For building work where the exemptions do not apply, and practitioners you’ve previously engaged are not registered under the DBP Act and authorised to make declarations, it may be necessary to engage other consultants who are registered. There is a searchable public register that includes registered design and building practitioners.
I emailed them asking where the $5000 exemption was but have not had a reply.
Could there have been a ministerial order separate from the regulation?
I came across a document from the NSW government’s Building and Construction Policy team (who own the D&BP Act) saying there’s an exemption for works under $5000 in clause 13 of the regulation. I had a look at https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2021-0152#sec.13
and I can’t see it.
Has anyone else heard of this alleged exemption?
Once that space has been allocated, it can’t be used by visitors. Wouldn’t that be a breach of the approval conditions and hence illegal?
But if it is legal, granting exclusive use would require a by-law change which in NSW requires a special resolution with not more than a quarter by value of votes cast against it.