[gwyn]

What fee can Strata Manager charge for looking at the records?

[gwyn]

I delivered a page of Motions for our May 30 AGM at end April.  The notice of meeting with agenda was received on May 20 without any of my Motions.  Strata Manager said they had not received the page I delivered.  With one week to go, can I get the motions into the agenda?

 

[gwyn]

At last year’s AGM in March 2018 the 2019 AGM date was set as Saturday March 16.  About one month ago I was advised by Strata Managers that this had been changed to Saturday March 9.  Then a few days ago I was told it was changed again to Wednesday March 6.  First, who can decide the date and does such decision need input from the owners?   How much time should be given before the meeting before setting a date?  And traditionally the meeting was on a Saturday but someone has now changed it to Wednesday when many owners will be unable to attend. What right does an owner have to demand it be on a Saturday as previously?

[gwyn]

Thank you for your advice.  I will now have to ask SM why they did not follow procedure, and did not advise any other Committee members.

[gwyn]

Thanks Sir Humphrey: I understand the points you make about entry to a Lot.  But my main query relates to the part of the new By Law that states each Lot Owner is responsible for the repair/maintenance of things in their own Lot that would normally be paid for by the OC:  for example, exterior painting, repairs to roof, gutters, cracks (or worse) in the building structure, etc.   As these sort of things are normally paid for by OC under strata law, can this new By Law supersede strata law by stating it should now be paid by each Lot owner?Thank you. 

[gwyn]

I note in a different post that Jimmy T stated:   ” any attempt to formalise the arrangement through by-laws could be challenged (as you can’t create a by-law that supersedes a superior law).”

We passed a By Law at our last AGM which in effect stated that each Owner of a lot in our complex (7 free-standing and separate villas)  is responsible for all the repair/maintenance/upkeep etc of anything in their own lot.  In other words, repairs to roofs, gutters, external painting etc would be paid for by the relevant owner, not the OC.

As this By Law seems to supersede what is covered in Strata Law, do you think it has legal standing.  The By Law has now been registered.

[gwyn]

The CHU policy that this strata complex has had for several years has 10 policies within it that you can choose to take some, or all.  Previous committees have chosen not to include the Office Bearer liability (nor included certain other policies like Machinery Breakdown, or Catastrophe) .   There is no new reason to take out Office Bearer, it just seems sensible like taking out Public Liability or Fidelity Guarantee.  I would presume the premium would be fairly nominal, I hope.

[gwyn]

Thanks Jimmy T and you’ll be pleased to know that CHU is our current insurer.   I rang CHU to ask how much extra to add the Office Bearer into our existing policy and they wouldn’t give me a figure.  They said the request had to come from the Strata Manager.  How bureaucratic can you get, and why?

[gwyn]

@Boronia said:
The policy for our SP includes $100K of Office Bearers’ Liability, but it just part of a bundled policy covering everything, so it is not possible to determine individual proportions of the premium. I imagine most policies are like this.  

Thank you.  Just wondering how much extra to pay to include it with the other things covered in the policy which has building insurance cover of $5.8m for a premium of $6000.

[gwyn]

The principal reason is that we have an AGM coming up which will be my first as we have only owned our house/lot for less than a year.  There will also be two other new house/lot owners out of the seven in total.  I wanted to put on the agenda an item to clarify the vagueness of the situation that I have described already of “Who’s responsible?”  .  With your answers it would appear to be best to introduce a suitable by-law to put into place what has been only a loose understanding to date.

I appreciate your comments and input.  Gwyn

[gwyn]

Replying to Jimmy T:  I want to know where I stand legally rather than an apparent handshake more than a decade ago by previous owners.  Can creating a by-law as you suggest supersede what strata law says in terms of the Owners Corp being responsible for certain things?  I also understand your cautionary caveat.

To Sir Humphrey:  your question is why I broached this topic.  However I looked at page 21 of

https://rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/143078/Strata_Plans_Fast_Facts.pdf  

as suggested by Lady Pen which indicates that if the building is not common property then it should be shown on the strata plan by thick broken lines, and the strata plan should contain a statement stating that the building is not common property.  My strata plan has neither.  The buildings are shown as a solid line, the same as the lot boundaries.

[gwyn]

Sir Humphrey: sorry I should have said this is in NSW.  

Lady Pen: further info, the buildings are all single storey.  On the Strata Plan floor plan, the buildings within the lots are all shown in unbroken lines, and the boundaries of the lots are also shown in unbroken lines, same thickness. None of the building lines are lot boundary lines, as the buildings are set away from the lot boundary lines by a few, or several, metres.  I’m not sure where I would look for a strata plan statement saying:” buildings do not form common property”. I only have strata plan info that was in the purchase contract.

The stratum statement says:  “The stratum of each garden area extends from 3m below to a height of 5m above the upper surface of the floor level of the respective adjoining residence, except where covered”.   Not sure what all that means, or any relevance to the question which remains whether the external components of the buildings in our strata plan are subject to the requirements of strata law re repair, maintenance etc .

Thank you for your help

[Author]

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