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I might add, no actual mediation has been attempted.
Was there a notice to comply issued? If that’s the case, no mediation is required (unlike with most other NCAT actions).
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Hiring a building manager just to manage contractor access seems excessive. But if there’s that much work going on, maybe you need one anyway. They could also make sure tradies were working withing the permitted hours.
If your strata manager is based locally, they could feasibly run a sign-in, sign-out service for keys. I’m pretty sure they would charge you for it too.
For a less expensive option, I’m quoting from a post in a totally different thread, from Nugalbags who has solved the problem of emergency keys and other general access keys by installing a recodable security box.
we have in our block a wall mounted lock key box (https://www.bunnings.com.au/master-lock-wall-mounted-key-safe_p4210912) … only a couple Committee Members have the code. I change our code regularly as this box also holds a set door keys (for tradies), noticeboard keys, MSB keys, side gate key etc.
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Hi Joe50, You are basically going to mediation (and potentially further) to request another Lot Owner to spend considerable thousands of dollars- solely based on your person opinion/feelings.
I think this has gone beyond mediation, if we are talking about directions hearings.
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When NCAT was set up, there was an attempt to make it lawyer-free or, at least, not assume that lawyers would be needed, but allow lawyers to represent clients by mutual consent. That seems to have drifted somewhat, with some Members reportedly frustrated that they have to explain procedures to one or other side of a dispute.
In any case, if you win, under Section 90 of the Act, costs can be awarded against the other members of the owners corporation, excluding you. And they have to raise the money by a special levy that you don’t have to pay. However, I think you have to ask for costs to be awarded at the start of the proceedings as the default is that each party pays their own costs (which would, indeed, mean you were paying to take yourself to the tribunal).
If the Owners Corporation has lawyered up, it might be worth you getting representation too (especially since your grasp of strata law may be based on flawed assumptions … e.g. you weren’t aware that lawyers are allowed).
If you can’t afford an experienced strata lawyer (and there’s no point in employing any other kind), Marrickville Legal Centre will provide free legal advice and even, in extreme cases, representation at the Tribunal.
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There is no overreaching, as the tenants have breached the buildings by laws about noise and peaceful enjoyment multiple times.
The possible over-reach is in your demand that the tenants be evicted. However justified you might be in demanding that, my feeling is that the Member will be a lot more reluctant to order an eviction than they would be to tell the landlord to deal with the problem.
However, if there has been a clear breach of by-laws, eviction would be in the landlord’s armoury. They could face financial penalties for non-compliance with NCAT orders, but it would be up to them to join those dots or face the consequences.
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Strata blocks are not mandated to adopt the use of QR code’s or any method of logging visitors.
I agree. There would be widespread non-compliance which would render the process pointless, really. I suppose strata schemes could pass by-laws demanding some form of registration for tradies, but then if they had the means to enforce that (concierges etc) then they would know who was coming in and out anyway.
I thnk there would be so many privacy issues around ordinary guests coming and going, you’d be unlikely to get any of the by-laws required for that through a general meeting.
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The key to this is waterproofing,
If you are changing the floor tiles, or tiles on walls that are shared with adjoining flats or common property, you should have a special resolution by-law to shift responsibility for the waterproofing from the owners corp to you..
It is too late to have anything added to your AGM agenda, so (if you need it) I hope you have a standard by-law that allows you to agree to the conditions of a by-law subject to its approval at the next AGM.
Otherwise, you could put something in writing that can be agreed at the next general meeting.
But if you aren’t re-tiling the floors or common walls, you should be OK.
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There are more restrictions on the election of owners to strata committees than most people realise. And the process of the election, as set out in Section 9 of the Regulations, is probably ignored more often than it is strictly adhered to.
That process is that you call for nominations, then take a vote on how many places you want on the committee (to a maximum of nine). That is where you could force an election to exclude deadbeats.
If you have, say, seven nominees and two of them are deadbeats, you propose a committee of five and then invite all the nominees to explain what they would bring to the committee and/or what they have done in the year in which they served.
If you don’t warn the deadbeats this is what you plan to do, they will be well and truly blind-sided while the keener candidates will, pre-warned and prepared, look like shining stars.
There are also specific restrictions on who can and can’t be nominated for election, as spelled out in section 31 and section 32 of the Strata Schemes Management Act (2015):
For instance, owners can only nominate one candidate for election. That means if they self-nominate they can’t nominate anyone else.
Co-owners can’t self-nominate … they either have to have a nomination in writing from their co-owners or get someone else to nominate them.
You can’t have more than one committee member from the same lot unless they also own another lot in the building.
Owners who were unfinancial at the time the meeting was called – i.e. haven’t paid their levies in full – can’t be nominated unless they have cleared their debt before the meeting (many strata managers want to see the money in the bank and won’t accept cheques at the meeting).
Non-owners can be nominated but not by owners who are also standing for election.
Also, unless they are owners in the block, building managers, rental agents of properties in the block can’t be elected.
Non-owners connected with the developer, the building manager or rental agents operating in the block can’t be elected to the committee unless they declare their connection before the election.
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Also the court can’t order the tenants to be thrown out if they are noisy … I feel you are overreaching somewhat and consultation with a lawyer will help guide you for a better outcome.
One correction – you are the applicant, not the respondent.
Otherwise, I agree with Kaindub’s comments. All you can really ask is that the owners instructs the tenants to abide by the by-laws of the building, and your right to the peaceful enjoyment of your lot, and agrees to take action if they don’t.
I think the instinctive reaction by most NCAT Members to a demand that tenants be evicted would be to throw the case out. You want the noise to stop – how that is achieved is between the landlord and the tenant.
Kaindub’s advice to get legal assistance is spot on. Meanwhile you could have a look at this web page for more information on what to expect at your hearing.
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If I were you, I would present a plan of action to your committee, gently pointing out that you all have a legal obligation maintain and repair common property. I would also point out that apartment rents and property prices are falling and rental availability has never been higher, so not maintaining the property is affecting the rents and values of properties that look run-down and neglected.
Stage 1 would be a clean-up, which they can all either agree to help with on a voluntary basis or there are services (like Jim’s Gardening) that will do it for a fee, which would come out of strata funds. I think in this instance a financial stick will work better than carrot.
Stage 2 would be a survey of what needs to be done to the block and when to bring iot up to a decent standard.
Step 3 would be to devise a 10-year maintenace budget to make Stage 2 a reality rather than a wish-list.
You may find that the majority of owners will be on-board, all they needed was for aomeone to do the legwork.
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I’ve tried to call a meeting but then U10 says “I don’t think we need a meeting…” and so nothing happens!
Section 39 of the act says that the committee of a small scheme must hold a meeting within 14 days if requested by two-thirds of the committee.
In your situation, that means three people. However, if you can’t get two more members to agree to join you in calling the meeting, you’re not going to get very far anyway.
39 Convening meetings(1) The secretary of the owners corporation may convene a meeting of the strata committee at any time.
(2) The secretary of the owners corporation, or any other member of the strata committee, must convene a meeting of the committee if requested to do so by at least one-third of the members of the committee.
(3) The meeting must be held—
(a) in the case of a large strata scheme, not later than 28 days after the request is made, or
(b) in the case of any other strata scheme, not later than 14 days after the request is made.
Don’t worry about the politics – just write a note saying that under Section 39 of the Strata Schemes Management Act you would like a meeting to be called within (say) 21 days and get two other owners to co-sign it. If the self-appointed chair takes offence, tell him you asked politely before and you always get rebuffed. And reassure him (and the other owners) that there’s no great political moves afoot – you would just rather discuss matters face-to-face every so often.
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If the glass can be changed without changing or damaging the frames, then I would think that could qualify as a minor renovation.
But I can tell you that Wim Jansen (below), who I think is a strata manager, will probably say if you touch the frames, it’s a change to common property and therefore requires a by-law.
It’s changing the frames that would make this a major renovation, not changing the glass. If the frames weren’t being changed, I might just go ahead and deal with the consequences later – it’s easier to apologise than get permisson, sometimes.
Of course the glazier will tell you this won’t make any difference to your sliding doors – they are in the business of selling windows. But in this case, if the new glass is too heavy for the rollers, don’t expect the strata committee to pay for repairs. They are more likely to charge you for damaging common property.
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Guess what, Fair Trading declines to offer a definition of what double or triple glazing is.
I received an email this morning that says “the Regulation does not provide further definition of ‘double or triple glazed windows’.”
Yeah, I know. That’s why I asked the question.
It went on to say that you should check with the glazier to see what kind of double glazing you want and then with your strata committee to see what they allow.
If they say you need a by-law, and you disagree, then take it up with mediation and then NCAT. So it’s not a minor renovation then, is it?
“To assist in confirming the type of glazing proposed and to confirm compliance or otherwise with the provisions of 28(e), the lot owner may wish to obtain advice/information from the glazier confirming the type of glazing proposed and discuss this again with the owners corporation,” says a Fair Trading spokesperson.
If a lot owner does not agree with the owners corporation’s determination that the work is a major renovation requiring a special resolution and a by-law, the next step in the dispute resolution process is for the lot owner to apply for mediation with NSW Fair Trading .
If mediation is declined by the owners corporation or if it is unsuccessful, the lot owner then has the option to apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to seek an order.
So Wim Jansen (below) is right. Even just thicker glass requires a change of window frames and that requires a by-law.
If you are interested in secondary double glazing that doesn’t require changing the windows, and therefore has no need for by-laws, Google “clip-on double glazing”.
But if you are going to need by-laws anyway, check out our sponsors Windowline to see how much it would cost to install fully integrated and much more efficient double or triple glazing.
Meanwhile, why do the regulations specify double and triple glazing as being a minor renovation since fully integrated double glazing would require by-laws?
Logic dictates that it can only be secondary or clip-on double glazing that doesn’t require a by-law and why Fair Trading can’t just come out and say this, and amend the regulations accordingly, is beyond me.
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