Forum Replies Created
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Hello, Not So Crazy Swede.
Hopefully you and your considerate neighbours will get yourselves onto the Executive Committee and encourage other Owners to think about others.
Is it still the case that in Sweden, there is no “Welfare housing” , but government housing that anyone can apply to live there?
I thought it was great that if you moved to another city, you would be able to rent a place fairly easily because the government had built many houses.
Here, only very low income people can apply, and have to wait 5 or 6+ years before they can move into ‘welfare housing’.
@Juan Durection said:
Flat Chatters, please. What do you think of the following letter I receive from strata manager after I email a couple of executive committee members about something I thought was being done that was wrong.Hi Juan
Do not copy or send any emails to the committee please, as said by the minutes from the last meeting.
All emails and letters are to be through me.
The committee are volunteers and have little time to deal with all matters.
The purpose of having me as the strata manager is to deal with your issues and if needs be copy the committee when I believe it is necessary.
Please assist in this way.
Fred
Actually Fred/Juan,
If I received that letter I would have just accepted that is the way the EC works. All correspondence through the SM.
Our EC accepts written (not emails!!!) in the Secretary’s designated letter box, or via the SM.
It looks like you … did not attend or read the Minutes of the last (committee) meeting.*
Maybe you, (and others) had been harassing the EC with multiple contact about things that you believe have not been ‘done’ correctly.
[*Post moderated – JT]
@IBC said:
Hi all,Some really great responses to this issue, if I may summarise:-
Keep in mind that we are NSW based so my comments may not be applicable to your State.
1) We would all hope that no Strata Manager (SM) worth their appointment would ever consider having any unlicensed contractor on site, however if they did they would breach their duty of care, remember Strata firms and their managers are given delegated authority and as such must act in compliance to the SSM Act and within the laws of their state.
2) All residential building work over $1,000 in NSW must be undertaken by a Licensed contractor for the trade work to be done ( Electrician, Plumber, Builder etc) as such if a SM or EC allow unlicensed and or uninsured contractors to do work then they are in my opinion a dysfunctional OC and not managing the OC in a manner that is required, as such in NSW under these circumstances you may have a very good chance in placing an application to the CTTT to have a compulsory Strata Manager appointed to sort out the mess. You don’t need the support of the committee, the OC or any other owner. If you want to explore this option it is best to discuss with a Strata Lawyer. See this web site Law Firm Sponsor.
3) This issue of licensed contractors is a continuing issue for the Strata Sector to deal with. I support OC subscribing to an a service provider that critique Contractors, however don’t be lured into a false sense of security as these checks only disclose that the contractor is licensed and insured, they don’t provide any review of the contractors quality of work and their dependability. So make sure you ask for references and check them out. Call a couple of OC they are doing work for at the time of getting a quote from them!
4) What I am about to say will seem like I am pushing my companies barrow, but a big problem in Strata is that far too often works are contracted out without ample Research or without a detailed Scope of works. You need to know what is the problem and what is the most cost effective but also BCA compliant way to fix the issue. A good scope should result in you getting apple for apple quotations as well as being able to have a clear document to set the completed works against as undertaken. Which brings me to another issue and that is who should sign off the works? I would suggest that it should not be an Owner or a member of the EC even if experianced. Get an independant expert who has Professional Indemnity Insurance to carry out the progress payment inspection and the final inspection.
5) Finaly maintenance work will be required from time to time and short cut cheap jobs never return anything except short term results. Your Strata Building is the Owners greatest asset. I see far too often Owner’s spending more time and money on their motor car then their home.
I hope this summary has been helpful. If we can help we would be happy to provide a quotation.
Chris Mo’ane AIAMA, MASBC-CPC
GMD Integrated Consultancy Group
Building Consultants, Engineers and Strata Consultancy
Principal Sponcers OCN, Corporate Members SCA, FPAThank you for the excellent response Chris. I will show it to our Strata Manager and EC as we have an tradesman in our villas and he has been asked to do various jobs around the place.
What comeback is there if the people who actually do the work for him seem to be labourers not professional tradesmen, and the finished work is not ‘up to scratch’?
I suspect no one in the small complex wants to create friction as the tradesman seems to be well liked and offers to do ‘odd jobs’ for other Owners.
Hi Penny, it looks like your whole block needs serious work done on the hot water supply. Obviously it can not cope, and as you say, the very hot water is dangerous.
Old houses have problems when a tap is turned on if someone is in the shower. Sometimes you are standing under cold water, or very hot water, or have a tremendouse noise with pipes banging.
The Plumber who installed our last hot water service would not set the temperature below 67 degrees, because he said, bacteria could grow? Also the lower the temperature of the water, the fewer hot showers/baths you will get out of it before the water runs cold.
You definitely should be able to have some sort of tempering device so that the water is not able to fluctuate, if the current system is able to cope.
Hopefully some Flatchatter plumbers will have some good advice for you.
Take care.
Jimmy I applaud your patience with ‘Urban’, who obviously has had a bad experience.
It is a shame that he can not accept that others also have negative experiences and would like some positive advice.
Unless Urban Spaceman is ‘Sam’s’ irrational neighbour, he should let Sam have his say.
@writer said:
my elderly mother lives in a small block of villas all owner occupied by other elderly residents. she now needs a hand rail just outside her front door to safely walk down a small sloping path (a metre or two at the most i think) to the footpath. since this would be on common property she thought the body corporate might pay for it, especially as the body corporate has paid to have paths installed for some of the residents at their request around their villas. she has enqiured (with the body coprorate manager i think) and been told she will have to foot this expense as it is for her personal use, so she asked me to write on her behalf to get some advice/clarification. thanks for any help.It is her expense, as common property is what was there when she moved in. The EC would need to give permission to have the handrail put on, but there should be a state or local government agency that assists/pays for aids like hand rails and ramps for those who need them for access.
Before going any further, change the battery of the remote, it you think enough time has passed that it could be a problem. The battery would be your responsibility.
Other issues ‘newbies’ may discover is that the suggested strata fees are higher than advertised.
They may find they and locked in to a variety of contracts from Building Manager, cleaners, insurance, etc. where there have been kickbacks to the developer.
@livestrong said:
We are in the process of having bylaws amended for renovations that we undertook in our unit (namely bathroom and laundry), and have just been instructed that we are no longer covered by the owners corporation insurance policy for what they are calling “illegal works”.When we undertook the renovation, our architect was ill informed as to the extent of common vs private property when it comes to plumbing, so we are now retrospectively gaining council permission and an amendment to the strata by-laws for our unit.
What is confusing me, is how can the unit block insurance policy now exclude our renovation works or even the entire unit, as once the bylaws are updated and the exclusions in place, would we not still be covered by the overall policy?
Rgs
Livestrong
Because they can.
@Ferris said:
Hi Struggler,Thanks for your reply and for voicing your concerns. I understand that this is a significant undertaking and that’s why I’d like to things properly and in the right order. I will be using a licenced and insured builder and also informing my contents insurer which will minimise the risk of taking on the burden of responsibility of this common property.
The apartment, whilst sturdy and robust is in a very ‘original’ condition and hasn’t been touched in over 25 years so this major work will need to be done by someone at some point in the future.
My question still stands, what order do I do things? Do I approach strata with a high level summary or, as you say get engineers reports, council approvals, by-laws written up etc and then approach strata?
Thanks in advance.
Our E.C would want it all done up front. They could not approve such a big job without proof that the job will be approved by the local council and will be done professionally and safely.
Unfortunately too many renovation TV shows make it seem like they just walk into a place and knock down walls, etc. without any preparation.
@tiamaria said:
I live in a block of 8 units. Three owners want Foxtel and a shared TVAntenna for regular Tv installed. Three do not want either. Two are undecided at this stage. Can the three objectors to the expenditure be forced to pay for this facility which they say they do not need .A shared TVAntenna with access to Foxtel will help increase resale value for the units in your block, but if the three who do not want either, and the two undecided, never watch television at all then five against three will probably win.
If you watch now and again, (during the Olympics?), remember there will be no analogue television very soon (Sydney 2013). You will only be able to use a digital television, or purchase a set top box, or get pay television.
@butterflyness2006 said:
I want to know what I can do about this tenant I share an open double garage, he has one side I have the other. He has a very large ute type truck and when he parks it in the garage I have extreme difficulty getting my car in and out as there is a fence directly opposite the garages. He can’t possibly park it any further back than he already has as he keeps bikes and things at the back of his spot. Is there anything I can do about this. It is very difficult to determine if it is common property he is technically parking part of his ute on as the garages are under the units.
Have you tried talking to him about it?
Can you suggest anywhere else the bikes could live so there is a bit more room? He may not have realised how difficult it is for you if you do not say anything.
If he does not care, and you are both tenants, why not ask your owner if you can measure up and paint a line down the middle?
If you are the Owner, what does your Title Deed say how much garage space belongs to your dwelling?
If he can not park in the garage, will he park on common property and maybe deliberately block you?
@nettle said:
@JimmyT said:
In short, your neighbour can’t make a noise that disrupts the peaceful enjoyment of a lot (if you have that by-law) at any time, night or day. That’s why there’s no time stipulated – it apples 24/7.I’ve seen this advice given here often, and it seems remarkably unhelpful. It is totally unrealistic that strata occupants can NEVER make noise in their apartments if there is a valid reason (eg. renovations). If it makes no difference when the work occurs as you are indicating, does that mean the OP should also complain even if the work was occurring at 2pm on a workday? Where do we make allowances for give and take and acceptance of short term inconveniences, and the realities of modern day living?
Your sure are ‘prickly’ nettle!
I am not sure who or what an “OP” is, but if you mean “OC”, or Owners Corporation, if you are an “owner” then you are part of the OC.
(Some people who post to the Forum seem to believe that the “OC” is a big boogyman who wants to make the lives of the residents miserable.)
Jimmy has made it very clear that over a 24 hour (one whole day and night) “Owners” need to be sure that all their neighbours can have “peaceful enjoyment” in their living space.
As he said, there is recognition that work will need to be done, but other Owners need to have an idea of the noisy times, so they can plan to be out of the way (if they are mobile enough) when it is very noisy/dirty/dusty.
If I know that a job will take three days and there will be a team of professionals getting on with the job, then that is one thing.
It is a whole other thing if another owner just decides that this or that needs doing right now, and goes at it with drill, hammer, or other noisy, smelly process, with little or no warning.
@JimmyT said:
@JimmyT said:
If you could just get off your high horse for a minute, who said you could NEVER make any noise EVER? Who said there would be no give and take? Who said you’d be pulled up for making any noise at 2pm?
You can find reams of material on this Forum about reaching compromises with your neighbours. But buildings have to have these basic rules to suit their circumstances before they reach compromises otherwise people would just do what they wanted.
The problem is when you get some numpty moving into a building and bleating about their “rights” to have their hobby renovations going on all evening and all weekend when everyone else is trying to relax. Apartments are not houses. If you want the same freedoms as you have in a house, the answer is simple – go and live in one. You can’t import quarter-acre values to apartments. It’s like buying a car and complaining it doesn’t float as well as a boat.
Often these DIY renos go on forever because the renovator either doesn’t have the money or doesn’t know what they are doing or both, which means that many of them are far from a “short-term inconvenience”.
You’re right about give and take – only for some people it means everyone else gives and they take. My building is far from perfect but if you want to do renovations you have to have a proper schedule and that includes limited periods during which noisy work must be done – negotiated with the building manager and notified to other owners – and if you can’t get it done in that time, that’s your problem. You’d be amazed how many tradesmen can suddenly fit all their hammer drilling (for instance) into a short period when they’re told the alternative is that they won’t get the contract.
Of course there will be noise and dust during the day, but you can’t expect to improve the value of your home at everyone else’s expense simply because you’d rather not pay for professionals to do the job quickly and efficiently.
DIY renovations may occasionally be a valid reason for breaking noise rules – but when they impact on too many people too often and for too long, they are simply selfish and self-indulgent.
Hope that was sufficiently helpful.
FlatChatFan said
Livestrong, I am no building or even Strata expert, but why should your OC have to bear the cost of any problems that arise from the major work you have had done?If you read through the other recent posts to other threads, you can see the sort of problems that can arise after renovations.
That is why your E.C. wants to be protected from claims for future damage.
I suggest running through each of the top listed threads from the first post to the last of each thread.
It only takes a few minutes.