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Was the wooden floor part of the building as constructed? If so, would it not be considered common property, with the squeaking being a defect for the OC to remedy? If it was put in by a previous owner with or without permission, responsibility for it could be the subject of legal argument.
Section 117 of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act sets a subjective standard in saying that the lot is not “to be used or enjoyed in such a manner or for such a purpose as to cause a nuisance or hazard to the occupier of any other lot”. If perceived footfall noise is accepted as a “nuisance”, then this says that the floor covering must prevent it, irrespective of the readings achieved on a decibel meter or whatever else is the favoured measuring device. This is supported by the court ruling in the case cited elsewhere in this Forum. In effect, if a person below (or anywhere else) can make a credible case that the noise is causing a nuisance, then the law is breached (unless the complainant can be shown to be a vexatious nutter). Building by-laws can reinforce the provision of the Act (the law of the land) but cannot purport to negate it. Marketers of ‘floating’ floors are fond of saying that they meet the requirements of ‘strata’, but the only requirement that counts is that set out in the Act.
For the record, I live in a top floor apartment, fully carpeted except for kitchen and bathrooms. I wouldn’t have it any other way. My 1940s childhood on the North Coast left me with a perception that wooden floors meant you couldn’t afford lino.
The EC of which I have been a member for 12 years doesn’t drink before or during meetings; I don’t think that the issue has ever been discussed during my time. A glass and a nibble or two during the meeting does not seem objectionable in principle, although it seems incompatible with the papers that are often spread out on the table. What concerns me about the original post is the potential for some of the committee to ‘caucus’ before the meeting and perhaps settle the odd contentious and/or expensive issue before it comes up in open and minuted session. This could be a problem if owners with an interest in hearing matters discussed are excluded from the preliminary discussion and do not have the opportunity to learn how the relevant decisions have been reached.
At first glance it seems high-handed. However, at my block, these checks are done early (to catch most people before they leave for work) and are notified well in advance. Some still don’t take notice and the policy is that if you miss out two years running, you pay for the callback. Getting fined for failure to submit the annual return to the Council is not acceptable! Could it be that Watchman was unfortunate enough to be moving in on the day of the long-scheduled inspection? Even so, I would agree that communication should have been better.
Based on Macfadyen’s posting, this looks like fraud! If the insurance company take notice of what has been sent to them and don’t take action, perhaps they deserve to be ripped off.
Current “10 years ago” flashbacks on Doonesbury (https://doonesbury.slate.com/strip/archive/flashback) are of interest. (Sorry if this is a plug for the strip in a rival publication)
In my experience, the agents do ask, and my position is that approval is conditional on the sign being removed and the site made good (if necessary) no later than 10 working days after exchange of contracts.
In the case cited by BMarr, under the by-law proposed in an earlier post, it would probably be considered unreasonable, not to say mean-spirited, to refuse what reads as a modest over-run of the permitted time. This assumes there is not more to this than meets the eye (e g a huge 4wd encroaching on the adjoining space!).
Harmony seems like a better neighbour than the downstairs person deserves. The loud computer games surely place the man downstairs in breach of the NSW By-law No 1, which states “An owner or occupier of a lot must not create any noise on the parcel likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of the owner or occupier of another lot or of any person lawfully using common property.” Note that there is nothing about the noise coming down, up or sideways – it is just not meant to happen, and there does seem to be the basis of a complaint about what appears to be unreasonable behaviour.
Definitely an issue that needs clarification. When does an houseguest become a short-term resident? A broad definition of hotel checkin/checkout times could be applied to overnight guests, but how many successive days does it take to become unreasonable? The case in question has gone beyond the bounds of reasonableness, especially if the behaviour is repeated systematically week after week. This person does appear to be in breach of the usual by-law — at least in spirit — although a smart offender, well schooled in rights but ignorant of the obligations of a citizen, would no doubt twist and turn on the issue of the law’s letter.
It seems not everyone has current standard wiring and an up-to-date board with circuit breakers inside their unit. I get occasional requests 'out of hours' to let people into the switch room because a failed appliance has cut their power off completely. I am not an electrician, but it seems a good quality individual circuit breaker should deal with the problem inside the apartment; if they have to get to the main switchboard (which I regard as a backup and a last resort), then they probably have a problem with the individual unit's wiring, which needs urgent attention beyond resetting the circuit breaker on the main switchboard. Perhaps a FlatChatter who is an electrician can comment – and put me right if necessary.
I would certainly like to be able to take a stronger line on smoking within the building, but the law and its interpretation seem vague at present. I submit the following, which I included in my submission to the current review of the NSW Strata Act:
“Section 117 of the Act should be amended in a way that smoking is unequivocally defined as a 'nuisance or hazard' for its purposes. Consequent specific model by-laws should be developed to allow Strata Plans to prohibit smoking by any person in enclosed common areas — or throughout the site. There should also be a requirement that persons smoking within apartments (including on open balconies and the like) should do so only in a manner that does not create a 'nuisance or hazard', with the burden of proof (that they have not created such a 'nuisance or hazard') resting with the smokers in the event of a dispute.
Ultimately, I would like to see all strata buildings defined as smoke-free, but the community — even the non-smoking majority on my own EC — is probably not quite ready for it — yet.
This discussion seems to have got out of control, to an extent that degrades the respect and dignity due to the flag. All concerned should visit https://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/symbols/flag.cfm#protocols and take note of what is said there. It does not seem to be in our makeup to fly the flag to the extent that Americans do, nor should we feel we have to. However, if the flag is to be flown, on a strata building or anywhere else, it should be done properly — with the respect and dignity mentioned above. Whoever advised Pauline Hanson on that video years ago has a lot to answer for.
On the second point, my submission to the current review of NSW Strata legislation (copied to my State MP) included the following:
Recommendation: a model by-law should be drafted to allow schemes to stipulate that designated parking spaces are to be used only for the parking of vehicles, and that storage of goods must be only incidental and not such as will significantly encroach on the space and prevent parking of the owner’s vehicle within the space. This should be linked with a strengthening of by-laws relating to parking in designated visitor areas and directions to the CTTT that the preservation of visitor areas for their intended purpose should assume priority in the adjudication of disputes. Any such by-law should explicitly prohibit the storage of fuel, chemicals or other hazardous objects or materials (e g storage batteries containing lead or other toxic metals).